IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


l/.^ 


1.0 


■tt  lii   12.2 

ui    lili 

Hi     -.«     MI20 


lAO 


1.1 


FhotogFaphic 

Sciences 

Corporalion 


23  WKT  MAIN  STRHT 

WUSTIR.N.Y.  14SM 

(716)t73-4S03 


4S 


» 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Instituta  for  Historical  IMicroraproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  da  microraproductions  historiquas 


Tachnical  and  Bibliographic  Notaa/Notaa  tachniquaa  at  bibiiographiquaa 


TlH 


Tha  Inatituta  liaa  attamptad  to  obtain  tlia  baat 
originai  copy  available  for  filming.  Faaturaa  of  thia 
copy  wiiich  may  ba  bibiiographicaily  uniqua, 
wliicit  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagaa  in  tha 
raproduction,  or  which  may  aignificantiy  changa 
tha  uaual  mathod  of  filming,  ara  chackad  balow. 


□    Colourad  covora/ 
Couvartura  da  coulaur 


I     I   Covars  damagad/ 


D 


D 


D 

0 


D 


Couvartura  andommagte 

Covars  rattorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  raataurte  at/ou  palliculia 


I — I   Cover  titia  missing/ 


La  titra  da  couvartura  manqua 


I      I   Colourad  maps/ 


Cartas  gtographiquas  an  coulaur 

Colourad  Ink  (i.e.  othar  than  blua  or  black)/ 
Encra  da  coulaur  (i.a.  autre  qua  blaue  ou  noire) 


I     I   Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


D 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Reii*  avac  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  liure  serr^e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  la  long  de  la  marge  IntArieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutias 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaiaaent  dana  la  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  ^H  filmtes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplAmentaires; 


L'instltut  a  microfilm*  la  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  *ti  poaaibia  da  aa  procurer.  Lea  details 
da  oat  exemplaire  qui  sont  paut-Atra  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibilographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dana  la  mAthoda  normale  de  filmaga 
aont  indiquAs  ci-dassous. 


D 
D 

n 

n 
0 

D 

n 

o 
0 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagias 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurtes  at/ou  pailiculAes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  dicolorAes,  tachatAes  ou  piquAas 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  dAtachAes 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Qualit*  inAgale  de  I'impreasion 

Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  matAriel  suppMmentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Mition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Lea  pages  totalament  ou  partiailament 
obseurcies  par  un  fauillet  d'arrata,  una  pelure. 
etc..  ont  At*  filmAes  A  nouveau  da  fa^on  A 
obtanir  la  mailleure  image  poasiMe. 


Th< 
pm 
of 
flM 


Ori 
b«f 
tha 
sioi 
oth 
firs 
slot 
or 


Tha 
aha 
TIN 
whi 

Mai 
diff 

wm 

bag 
righ 
raqi 
mat 


Thia  item  la  filmed  at  tha  reduction  ratio  chackad  below/ 

Ca  document  est  filmA  au  taux  da  rAduction  indiquA  ci-«laaaou8. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


2SX 


30X 


7 

3 

12X 


16X 


aox 


MX 


28X 


32X 


Th*  eopy  filmMl  iMra  has  bMn  r«produe«d  thanks 
to  th«  owMrosHy  of: 

MoriiMt  Library 
UniwnhyofOttMva 


L'oxomplairo  filmA  f ut  raproduit  grAca  i  la 
oAnArosM  da: 

BiMiotMqiM  Morimt 
UnivtnMd'OttMva 


Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baot  quality 
poaslbia  considaring  tha  condition  and  laglblllty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  In  kaaplng  wKh  tha 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Las  Imagas  suhrantas  ont  4t4  raprodultas  avsc  la 
plus  grand  soln,  compta  tanu  da  la  condition  at 
da  la  nattat*  da  i'axamplsira  f ilmA,  at  an 
conformM  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
fllmaga. 


Original  copies  In  printed  papar  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  lest  page  with  a  printed  or  Illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  pege  with  e  printed  or  Illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  e  printed 
or  Illustrated  Impresston. 


Les  exemplalres  origlneux  dont  is  couverture  en 
pepier  est  imprimis  sent  fiimAs  sn  commsn9ant 
per  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminent  solt  par  is 
dsrnlAre  pege  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impression  ou  d'illustration.  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  Iss  autres  exemplairss 
originaux  sent  filmAs  en  commenpant  par  is 
pramlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'Impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernlAre  pege  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  lest  recorded  frame  on  eech  microfiche 
shaH  contain  tha  symbol  ^^^  (maening  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  y  (meening  "END"), 
whichever  epplies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparattra  sur  la 
darnlAre  imege  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  ie 
cas:  le  symbole  -»-  signifie  "A  8UIVRE  ".  is 
symbols  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  mey  be  fHmed  et 
different  reduction  rattoa.  Those  too  lerge  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  expoeure  ere  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hend  comer,  left  to 
right  end  top  to  bottom,  es  meny  fremes  es 
required.  The  following  diegrems  illustrete  the 
method: 


Les  certes,  planches,  tebleeux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmAs  A  des  taux  de  rAductlon  diff Arents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
raproduit  en  un  seul  cllchA,  II  est  filmA  A  partir 
de  i'angle  supArieur  geuche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  heut  en  bes,  en  prenant  ie  nombre 
d'imeges  nAcesseire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
lllustrent  le  mAthode. 


1 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

S 

6 

h'jr 


^ 


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,      y'7   /    •:    ,w    // 


Y' 


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HISTORY 


OP 


OREGON  AND  CALIFOENIA. 


V 


Ottaviori" 


THE 


»  « 


HISTORY 


Of 


OREGON  AND  CAUrOENIA, 


AND  THE 


OTHER  TERRITORIES 


ON   THE 


NORTH-WEST  COAST  OF  NORTH  AMERICA; 

ACCOMPANIED   BT  A 

GEOGRAPHICAL   VIEW  AND  MAP 

OF  THOSE  COUNTRIES, 

AND    A    NUMBER    OF    DOCUMENTS    AS 

PROOFS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE  HISTORY. 


BY 


ROBERT  GREENHOW 


"  THE  POSBIBLE  DESTINY  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES  OP  i  «t.„.^ 
A  HUNDRED  MILUONS  OP  FREEMEN    ST^t^Im^  .      AMERICA,  AS  A  NATION  OP 
PACIFIC.  UVINQ  UNDER  TlTTAwTop^fprr      """  ^HE  ATLANTIC  TO  THE 
OP  SHAKSPEAHE  AND   Sl^^NTAN^rT^orp;.™"  "'^   ^^''^-^ 
COLERIDQE'S.  TABLE  TALK. 


BOSTON: 

CHARLES   C.  LITTLE   AND   JAMES   BROWN. 


itavi 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1844, 

By  Robert  Greemhow, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 


BOSTON : 

PRINTED    BY   FREEMAN  AND  BOLLBS, 

WASHINGTON  BTBEBT. 


I 


TO 


MY  VENERABLE  AND  EVER  KIND   FRIEND, 

MAJOR-GENERAL    MORGAN    LEWIS, 


LATE     GOVERNOR   OF    THE   STATE    OF    NEW   YORK  J 

THIS   VOLUME  IS  INSCRIBED, 


AS   A   MARK   OF   RESPECT   AND  GRATEFUL   REMEMBRANCE. 


ROBERT  GREENHOW. 


PREFACE. 


The  following  pages  are  devoted,  principally,  to  the  de- 
scription and  histor)  of  the  portion  of  North  America  hor- 
dcring  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  between  the  40th  and  the  o4th 
parallels  of  latitude,  vhich  is  traversed  and  in  a  great  meas- 
ure drained,  by  the  River  Columbia,  and  to  which  the  name 
of  OREGON  is  now  usually  applied.  It  has,  however,  been 
found  necessary,  for  the  objects  of  the  work,  to  bestow 
almost  equal  attention  on  the  regions  embraced  under  the 
general  appellation  of  Cat-iforma,  extending  southward 
from  the  Columbia  countries,  to  the  arm  of  the  Pacific, 
called  the  Cahfornian  Gulf;  and  also  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  coasts  and  islands  north  and  north-west  of  those 
countries,  as  far  as  the  Artie  Sea. 

The  vast  division  of  America,  comprehending  these  ter- 
ritories, remains,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  isolated  spots 
on  the  coasts  and  on  the  margins  of  the  larger  streams, 
uncultivated  and  inhabited  only  by  tribes  of  wandering  sav- 
ages. Its  shores  and  some  of  the  rivers  have  been  examined 
with  care,  and  their  course  may  be  found  delineated  with 
considerable  minuteness  on  maps.  Of  the  interior  regions, 
some  have  never  been  explored,  and  are  indeed  apparently 
impenetrable  by  man ;  others,  which  ofler  fewer  obstacles 
to  the  traveller,  are  only  known  through  the  vague  and  im- 
perfect accounts  of  traders  or  missionaries ;  and  in  those 
which  have  been  the  most  frequented  by  civilized  persons, 
much  remains  to  be  effected  by  the  aid  of  scientific  obser- 
vations in  order  to  obtain  satisfactory  ideas  of  their  geog- 
raphy and  physical  characteristics. 


i 


VIII 


PREFAf  E. 


These  territories,  unoccupied,  partially  unexplored,  and 
remote  from  all  civilized  countries,  nevertheless  present 
much  that  is  interesting  in  their  political  history,  as  well  as 
in  their  natural  conformation  and  productions  ;  and  events 
are  now  in  proji»rcss  which  seem  calculated,  ere  long,  to 
direct  towards  them  the  views  of  the  governments  and  peo- 
ple of  many  powerful  nations. 

Every  part  of  this  division  of  America  is  in  fact  claimed 
by  some  civilized  state  as  its  exclusive  property,  in  virtue 
either  of  discoveries  or  settlements  made  hy  its  citizens  or 
eulijects,  or  of  transfer  or  inheritance  from  some  other  state 
claiming  on  similar  grounds,  or  of  contiguity  to  its  own  ac- 
knowledged territories.  On  these  points,  the  principles  of 
national  law  are  hy  no  means  clearly  defined ;  nor  is  it  easy 
to  apply  such  as  arc  most  generally  admitted,  to  particular 
cases ;  nor  are  governments  ordinarily  found  ready  to  re- 
linquish claims  merely  because  they  arc  proved  to  be  un- 
foimdcd :  and  disputes  have  in  consc(iuence  arisen  between 
diflbrent  states  asserting  the  right  of  possession  to  the  same 
portion  of  Western  America,  which  have  more  than  onco 
threatened  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  world.  Attempts 
have  been  made  to  settle  the  questions  at  issue  by  negotia- 
tion ;  and  certain  lines  of  boundary  have  been  agreed  on 
by  treaties  between  one  and  another  of  the  claimant  powers : 
but  the  arrangements  thus  made,  can  scarcely  in  any  instance 
be  considered  definitive,  as  they  have  not  received,  and 
will  probably  never  receive,  the  assent  of  the  other  parties 
interested. 

In  the  mean  time  these  territories  are  daily  becoming 
more  important  from  the  advancement  of  the  popula- 
tion of  adjoining  countries  towards  them ;  and  from  the 
constant  increase  of  the  trade  and  navigation  of  several 
of  the  claimant  powers  in  the  Pacific,  which  would  ren- 
der the  undisputed  possession  of  establishments  on  the 
coasts  of  that  Ocean  most  desirable  for  each.  The  diffi- 
culty of  effecting  an  amicable  partition  of  the  territories 


I 
I  * 


PREFACE. 


IX 


f 


thus  becomes  daily  greater,  and  more  urgent  therefore  is  the 
necessity  of  endeavoring  to  attain  that  object  without  delay. 
It  was  principally  with  the  object  of  showing  the  nature, 
origin  and  extent,  of  these  various  claims,  that  the  author 
of  the  following  pages  composed  his  «  il/emoiV,  Historical 
and  Political,  on  the  North- West  Coasts  of  North  America  and 
the  adjacent  Territories,'''^  *  which  was  published  by  order 
of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  in  1840.  He  there 
endeavored  to  present  a  complete,  clear  and  impartial  view 


ula- 
the 
eral 
en- 
the 
iffi- 
ries 


■i 


*  The  circumstances  under  which  the  Memoir,  here  mentioned,  was  composed 
and  publiched,  will  be  made  apparent  by  the  following  letters,  and  extract  from 
the  Journal  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

To  the  Hon.  John  Forsyth,  Secretary  of  Stale, 

Washington,  January  25,  1840. 
Sir  ;  I  am  informed  that  your  department  is  in  possession  of  much  information 
relating  to  the  territory  of  Oregon,  its  geography,  resources,  and  the  title  of  the 
United  States  to  the  same.  If  consistent  with  your  duty,  I  would  be  pleased  to 
be  put  in  possession  of  such  papers  and  documents  as  you  may  think  proper  to 
send  me,  requesting  that  you  will  mark  such  as  you  would  rather  not  have 
printed  or  made  public.  Your  obedient  servant, 

L.  F.  LINN, 

Chairman  ofllM  Select  CammlltM  on  the  Terrllorjr  of  Ore(on. 

Answer. —  To  the  Hon.  Lewis  F.  Linn,  Senator  of  the  United  States. 

Department  of  State,  Washington,  Jan.  25th,  1840. 
Sir  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of  this  day's  date,  asking  for 
information  relative  to  the  territory  of  Oregon,  its  geography  and  resources,  and 
the  title  of  the  United  States  to  the  same.  Mr.  Greenhow,  the  translator  and 
librarian  of  this  department,  has  been  for  some  time  past,  by  my  direction,  em- 
ployed in  collecting  and  arranging  historical  information  on  the  subject  of  the 
north-western  coasts  of  America ;  I  send  you  the  icsult  of  his  labors,  and  submit 
it  to  the  discretion  of  the  committee  to  be  printed  or  not,  as  they  may  think  most 
advisable.  Not  having  had  the  leisure  to  compare  the  statements  in  the  Memoir 
with  the  various  works  and  documents  upon  which  they  are  founded,  I  can  vouch 
only  for  the  zeal,  industry,  and  good  faith  of  Mr.  Greenhow,  by  whom  they  were 
prepared.  I  am,  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  FORSYTH,  Secretaty  of  State. 

From  the  Journal  of  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

*'  Monday,  February  10,  1840.    On  motion,  by  Mr.  Linn, 

Ordered,  That  a  History  of  the  North-A^  est  Coast  of  North  America  and  the  ad- 
jacent Territories,  communicated  to  the  Select  Committee  on  the  Oregon  Territory, 
be  printed,  with  the  accompanying  map ;  and  that  two  thousand  five  hundred 
copies,  in  addition  to  the  usual  number,  be  printed  for  the  use  of  the  Senate." 

B 


PREFACE. 


of  all  the  discoveries  and  settlements,  made  or  attempted, 
in  those  countries  by  civilized  nations,  and  of  all  the  dis- 
putes, negotiations,  and  conventions,  between  different 
governments  with  respect  to  them,  from  the  period  when 
they  were  first  visited  by  Europeans ;  founding  his  state- 
ments, as  much  as  possible,  upon  original  authorities. 
That  Memoir  is  the  only  work  hitherto  published,  approach- 
ing in  its  character  to  a  history  of  the  western  portion  of 
North  America.  The  History  of  California*  printed  at 
Madrid,  in  1758,  is  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  descriptions 
of  the  Cahfornian  Peninsula,  and  to  accounts  of  the  mission- 
ary labors  of  the  Jesuits,  in  that  desolate  region.  Tlie 
Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Marchand^s  Voijage,f  which 
appeared  in  1799,  and  the  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of 
Galiano  and  Valdes,X  published  in  1802,  are  confined  to 
the  discoveries  of  European  navigators  on  the  North 
Pacific  coasts  of  America,  before  1793 ;  upon  which  so 
many  details  have  been  made  known,  since  the  appearance 
of  those  works,  that  they  are  now  entirely  obsolete,  and 
scarcely  one  of  their  paragraphs  can  be  cited  as  correct. 
The  Journals  of  Cook,  La  Perouse,  Vancouver,  Macken- 
sie,  Krusenstern,  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Kotzebue,  Beechey 
and  Belcher,  all  contain  important  information  as  to  the 
geography  of  the  countries  under  consideration ;  but  as 
regards  the  events,  which  lie  within  the  province  of  the 
historian,  we  have  only  the  accounts  of  the  Astoria  enter- 
prise by  Franchere,  Cox,  and  Irving,  all  interesting,  yet 
all  limited  to  the  occurrences  of  three  or  four  years.  In 
the  most  popular  histories  of  other  countries,  and  especially 
of  Great  Britain,  the  circumstances  relating  to  North- West 
America,  are  in  every  material  point,  misrepresented, 
either  from  neglect  oh  the  part  of  the  authors,  or  from 
motives  less  excusable  ;  and  these  histories  being  univer- 
sally read  and  received  as  true  in   England  and  in  the 


'  See  page  105. 


f  See  page  223. 


X  See  page  241. 


J 


PREFACE. 


XI 


as 
the 
nter- 
yet 
In 
cially 
West 
nted, 
from 
Hiver- 
the 

241. 


United  States,  it  is  not  astonishing,  that  erroneous  ideas 
should  be  generally  entertained  by  the  people  of  both 
nations,  upon  points,  which  have  been  and  will  continue  to 
be,  the  subjects  of  discussion  between  their  governments. 

The  Memoir,  above  mentioned,  contains  the  outlines  of 
the  History  now  presented ;  for  which  the  same  authorities, 
with  many  others  since  collected,  consisting  of  private  and 
official  reports,  letters  and  accounts,  journals  of  expeditions 
by  sea  and  land,  and  histories  and  state  papers  of  various 
civilized  nations,  have  been  carefully  examined  and  com- 
pared. Many  errors  of  fact  as  well  as  of  reasoning  in  the 
former  work,  have  by  this  means  been  corrected ;  and 
new  circumstances  have  been  brought  to  light,  and  new 
arguments  have  been  founded  upon  them,  of  an  important 
nature,  and  calculated  perhaps  materially  to  modify  the 
views  of  those  to  whom  the  settlement  of  questions  relative 
to  North- West  America  may  be  hereafter  entrusted.  The 
principal  object  of  the  author  has  been  to  present  the  facts 
relative  to  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  those  countries, 
fairly ;  and  to  investigate,  and  judge  the  claims  which  have 
been  deduced  from  them,  agreeably  to  the  immutable 
principles  of  right,  and  the  general  understanding  of 
civilized  nations:  and  although  he  fully  appreciates,  and 
endeavors  in  all  cases  to  place  in  their  proper  light,  the 
merits  of  his  own  countrymen,  and  the  pretensions  of  his 
own  government,  he  is  not  conscious  that  his  desire  to  do 
so,  has  in  any  case  led  him  to  die  commission  of  injustice 
towards  other  individuals,  or  nations,  either  by  misstate- 
ments, or  by  suppressions  of  the  truth.  In  order  to  unite 
the  various  parts  into  a  regular  narrative,  and  to  preserve 
the  remembrances  of  events  which  may  be  interesting,  if 
not  important  at  future  periods,  he  ha:^  introduced  circum- 
stances not  immediately  tending  to  the  attainment  of  the 
principal  objects  proposed;  but  he  has  omitted  nothing 
voluntarily,  which  if  made  known  might  have  led  to  con- 
clusions different  from  those  here  presented.     The  dates 


il 


XII 


PREFACE. 


V' 


and  the  authorities  will  be  found  generally  inserted,  and 
always  in  cases  where  the  circumstances  related  are  new  or 
material,  or  in  which  the  accounts  here  given  differ  from 
those  usually  received ;  and  he  has  appended  a  number  of 
documents,  extracts,  and  original  notices  as  Proofs  and 
Illustrations  of  the  history.  Among  the  latter,  are  some 
valuable  papers  never  before  published,  others  not  com- 
monly known,  and  others  again  which  the  reader  will 
probably  desire  frequently  to  consult,  including  all  the 
treaties  and  conventions  between  civilized  nations,  with 
respect  to  the  countries  forming  the  subjects  of  the  history. 
In  the  geographical  view  he  has  cDllected,  compared,  and 
endeavored  to  arrange  in  order,  what  appeared  to  be  the 
most  exact  and  striking  details,  presented  by  the  numerous 
travellers  who  have  visited  the  countries  in  question.  The 
map  has  been  composed,  as  far  as  possible,  from  the  original 
authorities  :  being  intended  for  the  illustration  of  the  history, 
it  necessarily  embraces  a  very  large  portion  of  the  surface 
of  the  globe,  and  is  consequently  on  a  small  scale ;  it  will 
however  be  found  sufficient  for  that  purpose,  and  perhaps 
on  the  whole,  more  nearly  correct  than  any  other  yet 
offered  to  the  public. 


Washington,  February,  1844. 


E) 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


GEOGRAPHY    OF    THE    WESTERN    SECTION    OF    NORTH 

AMERICA. 

GENERAL    VIEW. 

Great  Natural  Divisions,  or  Sections  of  North  America  —  Coasts  on  the 
Pacific  and  Arctic  Seas  —  Mountain  Chains  of  the  Pacific  Section  — 
Rocky  Mountains  —  Geology —  Climate  —  Rivers  —  Aboriginal  Inhabit- 
ants—  Settlements  and  Claims  of  civilized  Nations.  .  .  1-8 

CALIFORNIA. 

Extent,  and  Divisions  into  Peninsula  or  Old,  and  Continental  or  New  Cal- 
ifornia—  Gulf  of  California  and  Country  on  its  eastern  side  —  Peninsula 
of  California  —  Continental  California  —  Spanish,  or  Mexican  Settlements 

—  San  Diego  —  Santa  Barbara  —  Monterey  —  San  Francisco  —  River 
Colorado  —  Utah  Lake. 9-20 

OREGON. 

Assumed  Boundaries  —  Region  of  the  Columbia  River  —  The  Columbia  and 
its  Branches  —  Pacific  Coasts  —  Strait  of  Fuca  —  Natural  Divisions  of 
Oregon  —  Westernmost  Chain,  or  Far- West  Mountains  —  Blue  Mountains 

—  Rocky  Mountains  —  Country  north  of  the  Columbia — North- West 
Archipelago  —  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  Establishments  —  Settlements 
of  Citizens  of  the  United  States  —  Territories  east  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains         20-37 

RUSSIAN   AMERICA. 

Extent  and  Limits — The  Russian  American  Company  —  District  of  Sitka 

—  District  of  Kodiak  —  Mount  St.  Elias  —  Michaelof  District  —  Aliaska 

—  District  of  Unalashka  —  Aleutian  Islands  —  District  of  Atcha — Ber- 
ing's Strait  —  Kamtchatka.  38-42 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


HISTORY  OF  OREGON  AND  CALIFORNIA,  ETC. 


CHAPTER   I. 
To  1543. 

Preliminary  Observations  —  Efforts  of  the  Spaniards  to  discover  Western 
Passages  to  India  —  Successive  Discoveries  of  the  West  Indies,  the  North 
American  Continent,  the  Eastern  Passage  to  India,  Brazil,  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean  —  Search  for  a  navigable  Passage  connecting  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Pacific  Oceans —  Supposed  Discovery  of  such  a  Passage,  called  the  Strait 
o/"  Anion  —  Discovery  of  Magellan's  Strait  and  the  Western  Passage  to 
India  —  Conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortes,  who  endeavors  to  discover  new 
countries  farther  north-west  —  Voyages  of  Maldonado,  Ilurtado  de  Men- 
doza,  Grijalva,  and  Becerra  —  Discovery  of  California — Expedition  of 
Cortes  to  California —  Pretended  Discoveries  of  Friar  Marcos  de  Niza  — 
Voyages  of  Ulloa,  Alarcon,  and  Cabrillo  —  Expeditions  of  Coronado  and 
Soto  —  The  Spaniards  desist  from  their  Efforts  to  explore  the  North- 
West  Coasts  of  America.      ......        45-66 


CHAPTER    II 


1543  TO  1606. 

The  Spaniards  conquer  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  establish  a  direct  Trade 
across  the  Pacific,  between  Asia  and  America  —  Measures  of  the  Spanish 
Government  to  prevent  other  European  Nations  from  settling  or  trading  in 
America  —  These  Measures  resisted  by  the  English,  the  French,  and  the 
Dutch  —  Free  Traders  and  Freebooters  infest  the  West  Indies  —  First 
Voyages  of  the  English  in  the  Pacific  —  Voyages  of  Drake  and  Caven- 
dish —  Endeavors  of  the  English  to  discover  a  North- West  Passage  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  —  False  Reports  of  the  Discovery  of  such  Pas- 
sages—  Supposed  Voyages  ofUrdaiieta,  Maldonado,  and  Font^  —  Voy- 
age of  Juan  de  Fuca  —  Expeditions  of  Sebastian  Vizcaino  —  Supposed 
Discovery  of  a  great  River  in  North-West  America.  .  .      66-95 


CHAPTER    III. 

1608  TO  1768. 

The  North- West  Coasts  of  North  America  remain  nearly  neglected  during 
the  whole  of  this  Period  —  Efforts  of  the  English  and  the  Dutch  to  find 
new  Passages  into  the  Pacific  —  Discovery  of  Hudson's  Bay  and  Baflin's 
Bay  —  Discovery  of  the  Passage  around  Cape  Horn  —  Establishment  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Trading  Company  —  Endeavors  of  the  Spaniards  to 
settle  California  unsuccessful  —  The  Jesuits  undertake  the  Reduction  of 
California  —  Establishments  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  Peninsula,  and  their 
Expulsion  from  the  Spanish  Dominions.        ....      06-107 


Or 


Coi 


Uni 

e 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


srtt 
nil 
ific 
he 
ait 

to 
ew 
en- 

of 

ind 
th- 
45-65 


CHAPTER    IV. 

1769  TO  1779. 

First  Establishments  on  the  West  Coast  of  California  founded  by  the  Span* 
iards  —  Dispute  between  Spain  and  Great  Britain  respecting  the  Falkland 
Islands  —  Exploring  Voyages  of  the  Spaniards  under  Perez,  Heceta  and 
Bodega,  and  Arteaga  and  Bodega — Discovery  of  Nootka  Sound,  Norfolk 
Sound,  and  the  Mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  —  Importance  of  these  Dis- 
coveries.    .         ^•v*  •  •  •  •  •  •       108-126 


CHAPTER  V. 
1711  TO  1779. 

Discoveries  of  the  Russians  from  Kamtchatka  —  Voyages  of  Bering  and 
Tchirikof  to  the  Arctic  Sea  and  to  the  American  Continent  —  Establish- 
ments of  the  Russian  Fur  Traders  in  the  Aleutian  Islands  —  Voyages  of 
Synd,  Krenitzin,  and  Levashef —  First  Voyage  from  Kamtchatka  to  China, 
made  by  Polish  Exiles  under  Benyowsky  —  General  Inaccuracy  of  the 
Ideas  of  the  Russians  respecting  the  Geography  of  the  northernmost 
Coasts  of  the  Pacific,  before  1779.  ...  .  .       127-139 


M 


ide 
ish 

in 

le 
rst 
!n- 
)m 
is- 

y- 

ed 
66-95 


s 
of 
;o 
jf 
ir 
6-107 


CHAPTER  VI. 
1763  TO  1780. 

Great  Britain  obtains  Possession  of  Canada — Journey  of  Carver  to  the  Up- 
per Mississippi  —  First  Mention  of  the  Oregon  River  —  Inaccuracy  of  Car- 
ver's Statements  —  Journeys  of  Ilearne  through  the  Regions  west  of 
Hudson's  Bay  —  Voyage  of  Captain  Cook  to  the  North  Pacific  —  His  im- 
portant Discoveries  in  that  Quarter,  and  death,  —  Return  of  his  Ships  to 
Europe  ;  Occurrences  at  Canton  during  their  stay  in  that  Port.  140-159 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1780  TO  1789. 

Commercial  Results  of  Cook's  Discoveries  —  Settlements  of  the  Russians  in 
America  —  Scheme  of  Ledyard  for  the  Trade  of  the  North  Pacific  —  Voy- 
age of  La  Perouse  —  Direct  Trade  between  the  American  Coasts  and  Can- 
ton commenced  —  Voyages  of  the  English  Fur  Traders  —  Re-discovery  of 
the  Strait  of  Fuca — Voyafie  of  Meares,  who  endeavors  to  find  a  great 
River  described  by  the  Spaniards  —  First  Voyages  from  the  United  States 
to  the  South  Pacific,  and  to  Canton  —  Voyage  of  the  Columbia  and  Wash- 
ington, under  Kendrick  and  Gray,  from  Boston  to  the  North  Pacific.     160-181 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

1788  AND  1789. 

Uneasiness  of  the  Spanish  Government  at  the  proceedings  of  the  Fur  Trad- 
ers in  the  North  Pacific  —  Voyages  of  Observation  by  Martinez  and  Haro 


\ 


XVI 


CONTENTS. 


to  the  Russian  American  Settlements — Remonstrances  of  the  Court  of 
Madrid  to  that  of  St.  Petersburg,  against  the  alleged  Encroachments  of 
the  latter  Power — Martinez  and  Haro  sent  by  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  to 
take  possession  of  Nootka  Sound  —  Seizure  of  British  and  other  Vessels 
at  Nootka  by  Martinez  —  Captain  Gray,  in  the  Washington,  explores  the 
East  Coast  of  Queen  Charlotte's  Island,  and  enters  the  Strait  of  Fuca  — 
Return  of  the  Columbia  to  the  United  States.        .  .  .        182-201 


CHAPTER   IX. 

■  1790. 

Controversy  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain  respecting  the  North-West 
Coasts  of  America  and  the  Navigation  of  the  Pacific  — The  Owners  of  the 
Vessels  seized  at  Nootka  apply  for  Redress  to  the  British  Government, 
which  demands  Satisfaction  for  the  alleged  Outrages  —  Spain  resists  the 
Demand,  and  calls  on  France  for  Aid,  agreeably  to  the  Family  compact  — 
Proceedings  in  the  National  Assembly  of  France  on  the  Subject  —  Spain 
engages  to  indemnify  the  British  for  the  Property  seized  —  Further  De- 
mands of  Great  Britain  —  Designs  of  Pitt  against  Spanish  America  — 
Secret  Meditation  of  France,  through  which  the  Dispute  is  settled  —  Con- 
vention of  October,  1790,  called  the  Nootka  Treaty —  Proceedings  in  Parlia- 
ment, and  Reflections  on  this  Convention.  .  .  .  202-215 


Ce! 
t 
t 
I 

t( 


CHAPTER    X. 


1790  TO  1792. 

Vancouver  sent  by  the  British  Government  to  explore  the  Coasts  of  America, 
and  receive  Possession  of  Lands  and  Buildings  agreeably  to  the  Conven- 
tion with  Spain  —  Passage  of  the  Washington,  under  Kendrick,  through 
the  Strait  of  Fuca,  in  1789  —  Nootka  reoccupied  by  the  Spaniards  — 
Voyages  of  Fidalgo,  Quimper,  Elisa,  Billings,  Marchand,  and  Mataspina 

—  Voyages  of  the  American  Fur  Traders  Gray,  Ingraham,  and  Kendrick 

—  Discovery  of  the  Washington  Islands  by  Ingraham.       .  .       216-230 


CHAPTER  XI. 

1792  TO  1796. 

Vancouver  and  Broughton  arrive  on  the  American  Coasts  in  1792,  and  meet 
with  Gray,  who  informs  them  of  his  Discovery  of  the  Columbia  River  — 
The  Strait  of  Fuca  surveyed  by  Vancouver,  Galiano,  and  Valdes  —  Nego- 
tiations between  Vancouver  and  Quadra  at  Nootka  —  Vancouver's  injustice 
to  the  Americans  —  Broughton 's  Examination  of  the  lower  Part  of  the 
Columbia  River  —  Vancouver's  Proceedings  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  — 
He  completes  the  Survey  of  the  North-West  Coasts  of  America,  and  re- 
turns to  England  —  The  Spaniards  abandon  Nootka  —  Conclusions  with 
Regard  to  the  Dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  and  the  Conven- 
tion of  1790.  .......      231-260 


Firs 
th 
F< 
tic 
thi 
ac 
tw 
tal 
As 


Resti 
to 
Gr( 

Bri 

Mo 

Lai 
Lot 
twe 
of  1 


CONTENTS. 


XVII 


of 
of 
to 

3lS 

he 
82-201 


est 

the 

;nt, 

the 

t  — 

)ain 

De- 

i  — 

>on- 

rlia- 

202-215 


CHAPTER    XII. 

1788  TO  1810. 

Establishment  of  the  North- West  Fur  Trading  Company  of  Montreal,  in 
1783  —  Expeditions  of  Mackenzie  to  the  Artie  Sea  and  to  the  Pacific  Coast 
—  The  Trade  between  the  North  Pacific  Coasts  of  America  and  Canton 
conducted  almost  exclusively  by  Vessels  of  the  United  States  from  1798 
to  1814  — Establishment  of  the  Russian  American  Company  —  Its  Settle- 
ments and  Factories  on  the  American  Coasts  —  Expedition  of  Krusenstern 
through  the  North  Pacific  —  Proposition  of  the  Russian  Government 
to  that  of  the  United  States,  with  Regard  to  the  Trade  of  the  North 
Pacific •  .      260-275 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

1803  TO  1806. 

Cession  of  Louisiana  by  France  to  the  United  States  —  Inquiries  as  to  the 
true  Extent  of  Louisiana  —  Erroneous  Supposition  that  its  Limits  towards 
the  North  had  been  fixed  by  Commissaries  agreeably  to  the  Treaty  of 
Utrecht  —  President  Jefllerson  sends  Lewis  and  Clarke  to  examine  the 
Missouri  and  Columbia  —  Account  of  their  Expedition  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Pacific.  .......      276-289 


CHAPTER  XIV 


ica, 

en- 
tugh 

I  — 

lina 
[rick 

216-230 


leet 
Ir  — 

}go- 
ktice 

llhe 

re- 
irith 
Jren- 
1231-260 


1806  TO  1815. 

First  Establishments  of  the  North- West  Company  in  the  Countries  north  of 
the  Columbia  —  Pacific  Fur  Company  formed  at  New  York  —  Plan  of  its 
Founder  —  First  Expedition  from  New  York  in  the  Tonquin  —  Founda- 
tion of  Astoria  near  the  Mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  —  Destruction  of 
the  Tonquin  by  the  Savages  —  March  of  the  Party  under  Hunt  and  Crooks 
across  the  Continent  —  Arrival  of  the  Beaver  in  the  Columbia  —  War  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  fatal  to  the  Enterprise  —  Es- 
tablishments of  the  Pacific  Company  sold  to  the  North- West  Company  — 
Astoria  taken  by  the  British  — Dissolution  of  the  Pacific  Company.     290-305 


CHAPTER   XV. 
1814  TO  1820. 

Restitution  of  Astoria  to  the  United  States  by  Great  Britain,  agreeably 
to  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  —  Alleged  Reservation  of  Rights  on  the  Part  of 
Great  Britain  —  First  Negotiation  between  the  Governments  of  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States,  respecting  the  Territories  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  Convention  for  the  joint  Occupancy  of  those  Territories 
—  Florida  Treaty  between  Spain  and  the  United  States,  by  which  the 
Latter  acquires  the  Title  of  Spain  to  the  North-West  Coasts  —  Colonel 
Long's  exploring  Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  —  Disputes  be- 
tween the  British  North-West  and  Hudson's  Bay  Companies  —  Union 
of  those  Bodies — Act  of  Parliament  extending  the  Jurisdiction  of  the 


XVIII 


CONTENTS. 


Canada  Courts  to  the  Pacific  Countries  —  Russian  Establishments  on  the 
North  Pacific  —  Expeditions  in  Search  of  Northern  Passages  between 
the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  —  Death  of  Tamahamaha,  and  Introduc- 
tion of  Christianity  into  the  Sandwicli  Islands.        .  .  .  306-330 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


1820  TO  1828. 

Bill  reported  by  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States,  for  the  Occupation  of  the  Columbia  River  —  Ukase  of  the  Emperor 
of  Russia,  with  regard  to  the  North  Pacific  Coasts  —  Negotiations  between 
the  Governments  of  Great  Britain,  Russia,  and  the  United  States — Con- 
ventions between  the  United  States  and  Russia,  and  between  Great  Britain 
and  Russia  —  Further  Negotiations  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  relative  to  the  Norlh-VVest  Coasts — Indefinite  Extension  of  the 
Arrangement  for  the  joint  Occupancy  of  the  Territories  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  by  the  British  and  the  Americans.  .  .  .  331-355 


CHAPTER    XVII, 

1823  TO  1843. 

Few  Citizens  of  the  United  States  in  the  Countries  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains between  1813  and  1823  —  Trading  Expeditions  of  Ashley,  Sublette, 
Smith,  Pilcher,  Pattie,  Bonneville,  and  Wyeth  —  Missionaries  from  the 
United  States  form  Establishments  on  the  Columbia  —  First  Printing  Press 
set  up  in  Oregon  —  Opposition  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  ('ompany  to  the 
Americans;  how  exerted  —  Controversy  between  the  United  States  and 
Russia  —  Dispute  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  Russian  American 
Companies ;  how  terminated  —  California  ;  Capture  of  Monterey  by  Com- 
modore Jones  —  The  Sandwich  Islands  ;  Proceedings  of  the  Missionaries  ; 
Expulsion  of  the  Catholic  Priests,  and  their  Reinstatement  by  a  French 
Force  —  The  Sandwich  Islands  temporarily  occupied  by  the  British.     356-374 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

1842  TO  1844. 

Excitement  in  the  United  States  respecting  Oregon  —  Treaty  of  Washington 
determining  Boundaries  between  the  Territories  of  Great  Britain  and  those 
of  the  United  States,  east  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  —  Mr.  Linn's  Bill 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  for  the  immediate  occupation  of  Ore- 
gon —  Reflections  on  the  Convention  of  1827 — Present  State  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company's  Territories —  Conclusion.  .        .         .        375-403 


PROOFS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


405-471 


GENERAL  INDEX 


473 


I  on  the 
)etween 
itrodiic- 
306-330 


United 

Imperor 

letween 

-  Con- 
Britain 

d  Great 

I  of  tho 
Rocky 
331-355 


Moun- 

ubiette, 
•om  the 
?  Press 
to  the 
tes  and 
nerican 
1^  Com- 
naries ; 
French 
I.     356-374 


GEOGRAPHY 


OF  THE 


WESTERN  SECTION  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


iington 
d  those 
I's  Bill 
)f  Ore- 
eHud- 
375-403 


405-471 
473 


GEOGKAVIIY 


or 


TliE  WESTERN  SECTION  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


GENERAL  VIEW. 

NoKTii  America  borders  upon  three  great  divisions  of  the  ocean  : 
the  Atlunticon  the  east — the  Arctic  on  the  north  —  cuO  the  Pacific 
on  the  south  and  west  —  eacli  of  which  receives,  either  directly  or 
through  its  gulfs  and  bays,  the  superfluous  waters  from  a  corre- 
sponding great  section  of  the  continent. 

These  three  great  sections  of  North  America  are  une<|ual  in  ex- 
tent, and  difl'erent  in  the  character  of  their  surface.  At  least  one 
half  of  the  continent  is  drained  by  streams  entering  the  Atlantic ; 
and  of  that  half,  the  waters  from  the  larger,  as  well  as  the  more 
fertile  portion,  arc  carried  by  the  Mississippi  into  the  Mexican 
Gulf.  Of  the  other  two  sections,  that  which  borders  on  the  Arctic 
Sea  is  probably  the  more  extensive.  The  Atlantic  and  the  Arctic 
sections  present  each  a  large  proportion  of  surface  nearly  plane,  and 
comparatively  little  elevated  above  the  sea ;  and  the  line  of  sepa- 
ration between  them  is  so  indistinctly  marked  as  to  be,  in  many 
places,  imperceptible.  The  Pacific  section,  on  the  contrary,  is  trav- 
ersed in  every  part  by  steep  and  lofty  ridges  of  highland ;  and  it 
is  completely  divided  from  the  other  portions  by  a  chain  of  moun- 
tains, extending,  in  continuation  of  the  Andes  of  South  America, 
from  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  north-westward,  to  the  utmost  ex- 
tremities of  the  continent  in  that  direction. 

Of  the  Atlantic  coasts  of  America  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak. 

The  Pacific  coast  extends  from  Panama  westward  and  north- 
ward, without  any  remarkable  irregularity  in  its  outline,  to  the 
tropic  of  Cancer,  almost  immediately  under  which  is  the  entrance 
of  the  great  Gulf  of  California,  separating  the  Peninsula  of  Cali- 
fornia from  the  main  continent,  on  the  east.  From  the  southern 
extremity  of  this  peninsula,  the  coast  runs  generally  north-westward 
to  JNIount  St.  Elias,  a  lofty  volcanic  peak,  "rising  from  the  shore 
of  the  ocean  under  the  60th  parallel ;  beyond  which,  the  con- 
tinent stretches  far  westward,  between  the  Pacific  on  the  south, 
and  the  Arctic  Sea  on  the  north,  to  its  termination  at  Cape  Prince  of 
Wales,  on  Bering's  Strait,  the  passage  separating  America  from  Asia. 

The  part  of  this  coast  south  of  the  49th  degree  of  latitude  pre- 
1 


cmooRAPiiY  —  (ii:M:ii vL  vikw. 


lents  few  indentations,  and  the  islnnds  in  its  vicinity  are  neither 
numerous  nor  Inrgr.  North  of  the  'lOlh  <legrco,  on  the  contrary, 
the  mainhtnd  is  everywhere  penetrated  by  inlets  nnd  bays ;  and 
near  it  are  thousands  of  islands,  many  of  them  extensive,  lying 
singly  or  in  groups,  separated  from  each  other  and  from  the  conti- 
nent by  narrow  intricate  channeKs. 

Bering's  Strait  is  the  only  direct  pass  of  communication  between 
the  Pacific  and  the  Arctic  Sea.  Beyond  it,  the  shores  of  the  two 
great  continents  which  it  separates,  run  in  opposite  courses.  The 
shores  of  Asia  and  Europe  have  been  explored  in  their  whole 
lengtli  on  the  Arctic  Sea,  though  no  vessel  has  hitherto  made  a 
voyage  along  them  from  the  Atlontic  to  the  Pacific,  or  vice  versa. 
The  north  coast  of  America  has  been  traced  from  Cape  Prince  of 
Wales  north-eastward,  to  Cape  Barrow,  near  the  7 1st  <logrce 
of  latitude,  and  thence  eastward  more  thcM  fifteen  hundred  miles, 
though  not  continuously  to  the  Atlantic.  The  portion  north  of 
Hudson's  Bay  is  still  in)perfectly  discovered ;  and  the  interesting 
question  whether  the  Arctic  Sea  there  mingles  its  waters  with  those 
of  the  Atlantic,  or  is  separated  from  them  by  the  extension  of  the 
continent  to  the  north  pole,  remains  undetermined.  Many  cir- 
cumstances, however,  combine  to  favor  the  belief  that  a  commu- 
nication will  be  found  between  the  two  oceans,  either  through  Fox's 
Channel,  the  northernmost  part  of  Hudson's  Bay,  or  through  Lan- 
caster Sound,  which  joins  Baffin's  Bay,  under  the  74th  parallel  of 
latitude. 

The  Pacific  coast  of  America,  in  its  wliolo  length,  from  the 
southern  extremity  of  California  to  Bering's  Strait,  is  bordered 
by  lofty  mountains,  which  oppear  to  form  a  continuous  chain, 
partially  broken  in  a  few  places  by  the  passage  across  it  of  rivers 
from  the  interior.  These  mountains  rise,  lor  the  most  part,  im- 
mediately from  the  sea-shore,  above  which  they  may  be  seen 
towering  one,  two,  and  even  three,  miles  in  perpendicular  eleva- 
tion :  in  some  parts,  however,  the  main  ridge  is  separated  from  the 
ocean  by  tracts  of  lower  country,  as  much  as  one  hundred  miles 
in  breadth,  traversed  by  parallel  lines  of  hills.  The  peninsulas  of 
California  and  Aliaska,  the  numerous  islands  which  mask  the  coast 
of  the  continent,  between  the  49th  and  the  58th  parallels,  and 
the  Aleutian  Islands,  which  stretch  in  a  line  across  the  sea,  from 
the  southern  extremity  of  Aliaska  to  the  vicinity  of  the  opposite 
Asiatic  peninsula  of  Kamtchatka,  may.  all  be  considered  as  pro- 
longations of  this  chain  through  the  Pacific. 

The  great  chain  of  mountains  which  divides  the  streams  empty- 
ing into  the  Pacific  from  those  flowing  into  the  other  divisions  of 
the  ocean,  runs  through  the  northern  continent,  as  through  the 
southern,  in  a  line  nearly  parallel  with  the  shore  of  the  Pacific,  to 


I    '1 


are  neither 
10  contrary, 
1  bnys ;  and 
(Misive,  lying 
m  the  conti- 

ion  between 
8  of  the  two 
lurscs.     The 
their  whole 
erto  made  a 
or  vice  versa. 
pe  Prince  of 
7l9t   deaireo 
indrcd  miles, 
ion  north  of 
e  interesting 
!rs  with  those 
snsion  of  the 
Many  cir- 
at  a  commii- 
hroiigh  Fox's 
through  Lan- 
th  parallel  of 

;th,  from  the 

is  bordered 

luous  chain, 

IS  it  of  rivers 

|ost  part,  iin- 
lay  be  seen 
icular  eleva- 
ted from  the 

[indred  miles 
leninsulas  of 
isk  the  coast 
larallcis,  and 
lie  sea,  from 
he  opposite 
[cred  as  pro- 

pams  empty- 

I  divisions  of 

through  the 

Pacific,  to 


ai:oaRAPHY  —  uunerai.  view. 


3 


which  it  is  also  generally  much  nearer  than  to  the  Atlantic.  Under 
the  4Utli  parallel  of  latitude,  where  the  western  section  of  Amer- 
ica is  widt-^t,  the  distance  across  it,  from  the  summit  of  the 
dividing  chain  to  the  Pacific,  is  about  seven  hundred  miles,  which 
is  not  more  than  one  i^liir^  of  the  distance  from  the  same  point  of 
the  mountains  to  the  Atlantic,  measured  in  the  same  latitude. 

The  |iiKt  uf  the  dividing  chain  extending  south  of  the  40th 
degree  of  luhtiide  to  Mexico,  has  received  many  names,  no  one  of 
which  seems  to  liavo  been  universally  adopted.  The  Anohuac  Moun- 
tains is,  however,  the  appellation  most  commonly  applied  to  it  at 
present,  and  by  which  it  will  bo  distinguished  in  the  following  pages. 

The  portion  of  tho  great  ridge  north  of  the  'lOth  parallel  is 
generally  known  as  the  liorki/  or  Sloni/  Mountnins.  From  that 
latitude,  its  course  is  nearly  due  north-westwiud,  and  gradually 
approaching  the  line  of  the  Pacific  coast  to  the  54th  degree, 
where  the  main  chain  turns  more  westward,  an<l  contimies  in  that 
direction  so  fur  as  it  has  been  traced.  Another  ridge,  called  the 
Chipctvi/nn  Mountains,  indeed  extends,  as  if  in  (irolongation  of  the 
Rocky  Moutitains,  from  the  53d  parallel  north-westward  to  the 
Arctic  Sea,  where  it  ends  near  the  7()th  degree  of  latitude :  but 
the  territory  on  its  western  side  is  drained  by  streams  entering 
that  sea,  either  directly  or  passing  through  the  ridge  into  the 
Mackenzie  Hivcr,  which  flows  along  its  eastern  base. 

Among  the  Rocky  Mountains,  nearly  all  the  greatest  rivers  in 
North  America  have  their  sources.  Within  a  hundred  miles  of 
the  point  where  that  chain  is  crossed  by  the  41st  parallel  of 
latitude,  rise,  on  the  eastern  side,  the  Missouri,  the  Yellowstone, 
the  Platte,  and  the  Arkansas,  the  waters  of  all  which  are  carried 
through  the  Mississippi  into  the  Mexican  Gulf,  and  the  River  I?r«ro 
del  Ao/7c,  which  falls  into  the  same  arm  of  the  Atlantic  ;  while  on 
the  western  side  are  found  the  springs  of  the  Lewis  or  Snake,  the 
principal  southern  branch  of  the  Columbia,  which  enters  the  Pacific 
near  the  46th  degree  of  latitude,  and  those  of  the  Colorado, 
which  terminates  in  the  head  or  northern  extremity  of  the  Califor- 
nian  Gulf.  In  the  same  great  chain,  also,  near  the  53d  de- 
gree of  latitude,  the  northern  branch  of  the  Columbia  runs  from 
a  lake,  situated  within  a  few  feet  of  another  lake,  wiience  issues 
the  west  branch  of  the  Athabasca,  one  of  the  aflluents  to  the 
Mackenzie  ;  and  at  a  short  distance  south  rises  the  Saskatchawine, 
which  takes  its  course  eastward  to  Lake  Winnipeg,  and  contributes 
to  the  supply  of  Hudson's  Bay. 

Between  the  two  great  lines  of  mountains  which  thus  extend 
along  the  eastern  and  the  western  borders  of  the  Pacific  section  of 
North  America,  are  other  ridges,  some  apparently  isolated,  but  the 
greater  number  connected  with  the  above-described  chains.     The 


*  i 


1 


I    I 


4  GEOGRAPHY GENERAL     VIEW. 

most  extensive  of  these  intermediate  ridges  is  called  the  Snotvi/ 
Mountains,  and  is  believed  to  stretch  uninterruptedly  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  the  westernmost  range,  nearly  in  the  course 
of  the  41st  parallel  of  latitude,  constituting  the  southern  bound- 
ary of  the  territory  drained  by  the  Columbia  River.  Another 
ridge,  called  the  Blue  Mountains,  runs  northward  from  the  Snowy 
Mountains,  bounding  the  valley  of  the  Snake  or  Lewis  River  on 
the  west.  A  lofty  range  also  extends  from  the  westernmost  chain, 
nea '  the  48th  degree  of  latitude,  northward  to  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, near  the  54th  degree,  sejiarating  the  waters  which  How  into 
the  northern  branch  of  the  Columbia  from  those  of  Fraser's  River 
on  the  west,  and  forming  another  great  natural  line  of  boundary 
of  the  territory  called  Oregon,  drained  by  the  former  river. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  the  eiist,  are  several 
ridges,  running  generally  parallel  to  the  great  chain,  among  which 
are  the  Wind  River  and  Long^s  ranges,  comprising  some  of  the 
highest  peaks  in  America,  and  the  ridge  separating  the  valley  of 
the  River  Bravo  del  Norte  from  that  of  the  Arkansas.  Farther 
east  the  country  becomes  nearly  level ;  and  the  central  portion  of 
the  continent,  extending  from  the  foot  of  the  last-mentioned  ridges 
to  the  Mississippi,  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  Arctic  Sea,  may  be  con- 
sidered as  forming  one  plain,  so  slight  and  gradual  are  the  inequal- 
ities of  its  surface. 

With  regard  to  the  geology  of  this  section  of  America,  —  the 
Rocky  Mountains  consist,  so  far  as  they  have  been  examined, 
entirely  of  primary  formations  ;  while  the  regions  beyond  them, 
especially  those  of  the  great  chain,  which  runs  nearest  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  the  adjacent  islands,  exhibit  everywhere  traces  of  vol- 
canic eruptions,  and  contain  numerous  volcanoes  in  constant 
action.  The  regions  extending  eastward  from  the  Rocky  IMomi- 
tains,  to  a  great  distance,  arc  mostly  composed  of  a  very  salifcrous 
sandstone,  overlaid  in  some  places  by  beds  of  clay,  and  near  the 
streams  by  thin  layers  of  alluvium.  No  signs  of  past  or  present 
volcanic  action  have  been  discovered,  in  any  part  of  America, 
between  the  great  dividing  chain  and  the  Atlantic,  north  of  the 
tropic  of  Cancer. 

The  countries  on  the  Pacific  side  of  North  America  also  differ 
materially  in  climate  from  those  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  con- 
tinent situated  in  the  same  latitudes,  and  at  equal  distances  from 
and  elevations  above  the  sea.  These  diflcrences  are  less  within 
the  limits  of  the  torrid  zone,  and  perhaps  also  beyond  the  fiOth 
parallel  of  latitude  ;  but  in  the  intermediate  space,  every  part  west 
of  the  dividing  chain  of  mountains  is  much  warmer,  and  is  less 
frequently  visited  by  rain  or  snow,  than  places  in  the  Atlantic  or 
the  Arctic  sections,  under  the  same  conditions  as  above  expressed. 


OROGRAPHY GENERAL     VIEW. 


3  Snowy 
rom  the 
e  course 
I  bound- 

Another 
e  Snowy 
llivcr  on 
>st  chain, 
y  Moun- 
ilow  into 
r's  River 
boundary 
!r. 

re  several 
ng  which 
lie  of  the 

valley  of 
Farther 
portion  of 
icd  ridges 
y  be  con- 
e  inequal- 

ca,  —  the 
xamined, 
>nd  them, 
he  Pacific 
es  of  vol- 

constant 

ky  INlonn- 

salifcrous 

near  the 

nr  present 

America, 

irth  of  the 

also  ditler 
the  con- 
iices  from 
ess  within 
the  OOth 
part  west 
tid  is  less 
.llantic  or 
expressed. 


Thus  the  north-westernmost  regions  of  America  appear  to  be 
almost  as  cold,  and  to  receive  as  nuicii  water  from  the  heavens,  as 
those  surrounding  Bafiin's  Bay,  or  those  in  their  own  vicinity  in 
Asia ;  but  in  the  countries  on  the  Pacific  side,  corresponding,  in 
latitude  and  other  respects,  with  Newfoundland  and  Nova  Scotia, 
the  ground  is  rarely  covered  with  snow  for  more  than  three  or 
four  weeks  in  the  year,  and  it  often  remains  unfrozen  throughout 
the  winter.  In  the  territories  on  the  western  coasts,  opposite  to 
Virginia  and  Carolina,  the  winter  is  merely  a  wet  season,  no  rain 
falling  at  any  other  time  :  and  in  the  Peninsula  of  California,  which 
is  included  between  the  same  ))aralltls  of  latitude  as  Georgia  and 
Florida,  the  temperature  is  as  high  as  in  any  tropical  region,  and 
many  years  in  succession  pass  without  a  shower  or  even  a  cloud. 
It  is  likewise  observed  that  the  interior  portions  of  the  Pacific 
section  are  in  general  more  dry,  and  that  the  dilfereiice  in  tem- 
perature between  tlie  day  and  tlie  night  is  much  greater,  than  in 
the  countries  nearer  the  sea. 

The  central  portions  of  the  continent,  immediately  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  exhibit  the  same  jjeculiaritics  of  clinmte  with 
those  adjoining  west  of  that  cliain,  though  in  a  less  degree.  The 
vast  plains  within  s(;vcral  hundred  miles  east  of  the  di\iding 
chain  of  mountains,  between  the  3Sth  and  the  50th  j)arallels  of 
latitude,  present  a  surface  of  rocks  and  sand  ;  and  except  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  streams  which  cross  them  from  the  mountains,  they 
produce  nothing  but  stilf  grass  and  shrubs.  Descending  towards 
the  jNIississippi,  the  climate  becomes  less  dry,  and  gradually  as- 
smnes  all  the  characters  of  that  of  the  Atlantic  regions.  North  of 
the  GOth  parallel  there  is  more  rain  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  ; 
but  the  intensity  of  the  cold  and  the  length  of  the  winter  render 
the  coimtry  almost  every  where  uniidiabitable  by  those  who  depend 
on  agriculture  for  their  su|)port. 

In  consequence  of  this  greater  dryness  of  the  climate  on  the 
western  side  of  iVmeriea,  and  the  proximity  of  the  dividing  chain 
of  mountains  to  the  coast,  the  rivers  on  that  side  are  generally 
neither  so  long,  nor  so  abundant  in  water,  nor  navigable  to  such 
distances  from  their  mouths,  as  those  which  full  into  the  Atlantic. 
The  Columbia  and  the  Colorado  are  the  only  streams  flowing  from 
America  into  the  Pacific,  which  can  be  compared  in  any  of  those 
respects  with  several  in  the  other  sections  of  the  continent ;  being 
both  of  them  inferior  to  the  Mississippi,  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Ama- 
zons, the  Plate,  and  the  Orinoco.  The  rivers  of  Western  America 
present,  in  fact,  few  or  no  facilities  for  conmiercial  transportation. 
They  nearly  all  run,  in  their  whole  course,  through  deep  ravines 
among  stony  mountains  ;  and  they  are  frequently  interrupted  by 
ledges  or  accumulations  of  rock,  producing  falls  and  rapids,  to 


i' 


'*'  '"1 

''t '' 


6 


GEOGUAPUY GENEKAL    VIEW. 


Wf. 


overcome  which  all  the  resources  of  art  would  probably  be  una- 
vailing. East  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  are  many  great  streams 
flowing  from  that  chain  into  the  Missouri ;  but  none  of  them  seem 
calculated  to  serve  as  cliannels  of  communication  between  the 
eastern  and  the  western  sides  of  the  continent. 

Under  circumstances  of  climate,  soil,  and  conformation  of  sur- 
face, so  different,  it  may  be  readily  supposed  that  considerable 
differences  must  exist  between  the  natural  productions  of  the 
countries  on  the  western  side  of  North  America,  and  those  of  the 
eastern  section  of  the  continent.  Accordingly  it  is  found  that 
few  species  of  plants,  and  indeed  of  animals,  are  common  to  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  territories  ;  and  that  many  genera  which 
abound  on  the  one  side  of  the  dividing  chain  of  mountains,  are 
rare,  if  not  wanting,  on  the  other  side.  Some  vegetables  acquire 
a  greater  development  in  the  vicinity  of  the  north-west  coasts  of 
the  continent,  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world  ;  but  on  the 
other  hand,  large  portions  of  the  Pacific  section  are  absolutely  bar- 
ren, and  incapable  of  being  rendered  productive  by  art.  In  re- 
compense, however,  the  rivers  abound  in  fish,  especially  in  salmon, 
which  ascend  to  great  distances  in  the  interior,  and  form  the  prin- 
cipal food  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants. 

With  respect  to  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  North  America — the 
Arctic  coasts  are  occupied  by  a  peculiar  race,  called  the  Eskhnaux, 
who  are  also  found  on  the  northernmost  shores  of  the  Pacific,  in- 
termingled with  the  Tchikski,  the  aborigines  of  Northern  Asia. 
The  remainder  of  the  continent  seems  to  have  been  inhabited,  prior 
to  the  entrance  of  the  Europeans,  by  one  and  the  same  race  of 
men  ;  the  natives  of  the  various  portions  differing  from  each  other 
slightly,  considering  the  differences  of  climate,  soil,  and  modes  of 
life.  That  some  admixture  with  the  races  of  Southern  Asia  may 
have  taken  place,  is,  however,  not  improbable,  considering  the  fact 
that  two  vessels  from  Japan  have  been  driven  on  the  west  coasts  of 
North  America  since  1813. 

The  establishments  of  civilized  nations  in  these  countries  are  as 
yet  all  on  a  small  scale.  The  Russians  occupy  the  coasts  and 
islands  north  of  the  latitude  of  54  degrees  40  mirmtes :  their 
settlements  are  all  under  the  control  of  the  Itussinn  Amcricon 
Compovy,  a  corporation  enjoying  the  special  protection  of  the  im- 
perial government,  and  are  devoted  exclusively  to  the  collection 
of  the  furs  and  skins  of  the  land  and  sea  animals  abounding  in 
that  quarter,  great  numbers  of  which  are  annually  transported  to 
Asia  and  Europe.  The  British  and  the  Citizens  of  the  United 
States  are  spread  throughout  the  regions  south  and  east  of  those 
occupied  by  the  Russians,  as  far  as  California ;  and  have  been  hith- 
erto likewise  chiefly  engaged  in  the  fur  trade,  though  some  agricul- 


4 


m 


G£OGRAPUY GENIUIAL    VIKVV. 


are  as 
ts  and 
:  their 
icrican 
he  im- 
lection 
ing  in 
irted  to 
United 
those 
in  hith- 
gricul- 


tural  settlements  have  been  formed,  by  the  people  of  both  nations, 
on  the  waters  of  the  Columbia  River :  within  the  last  two  or  three 
years,  however,  particularly  in  1843,  large  bodies  of  emigrants 
from  the  United  States  have  gone  to  those  countries,  respecting 
whom  no  precise  accounts  have  been  yet  obtained.  The  British 
are  all  under  the  direction  of  the  Hudson's  Boy  Company,  which 
possesses,  in  virtue  of  a  grant  from  the  British  government,  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  trading  in  all  the  Indian  countries  of  Amer- 
ica belonging  to  or  claimed  by  that  power,  and  they  are  restrained 
and  protected  by  British  laws,  under  an  act  of  parliament,  extend- 
ing the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  Canada  over  all  those  coun- 
tries, so  far  as  regards  subjects  of  Great  Britain.  The  citizens  of  the 
Dnited  States,  on  the  contrary,  are  deprived  of  all  protection,  and  are 
independent  of  all  control ;  as  they  are  not  subject  to  British  laws, 
and  their  own  government  exercises  no  authority  whatever  over 
any  part  of  America  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  On  the  coasts 
of  California,  south  of  the  38th  degree  of  latitude,  are  many 
colonies,  garrisons,  and  missionary  stations,  founded  by  the  Spati- 
iards  during  the  last  century,  and  now  maintained  by  the  Mexi' 
cans,  who  succeeded  to  the  rights  of  Spain  in  that  part  of  America 
in  1821 :  this  country,  though  thinly  inhabited  by  a  wretched, 
indolent  population,  is  the  only  part  of  the  Pacific  section  of  North 
America,  which  can  be  considered  as  regularly  settled  ;  which 
possesses  an  organized,  civil  and  social  system,  and  where  indi- 
viduals hold  a  property  in  the  soil  secured  to  them  by  law. 

Each  of  these  four  nations  claims  the  exclusive  possession  of  a 
portion  of  the  territory  on  the  Pacific  side  of  America  north  of  the 
Californian  Gulf;  and  each  of  them  is  a  party  to  some  treaty  with 
another,  for  the  temporary  use,  or  definitive  sovereignty  of  such 
portion.  Thus  it  has  been  agreed  by  treaty,  in  1819,  between  the 
United  States  and  Spain,  renewed  in  1828  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  —  that  a  line  drawn  from  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains to  the  Pacific,  in  the  course  of  the  42d  parallel  of  latitude, 
should  separate  the  dominions  of  the  former  power  on  the  north 
from  those  of  Mexico  on  the  south.  It  was  in  like  manner  agreed 
in  1824,  by  convention  between  the  United  States  and  Russia  — 
that  the  former  nation  should  make  no  establishments  on  the  coasts 
north  of  the  parallel  of  .54  degrees  40  minutes,  and  that  the  latter 
should  make  none  south  of  the  same  line  ;  but  this  convention 
was  neutralized,  and  in  fact  abrogated,  by  a  treaty  concluded  be- 
tween Russia  and  Great  Britain  in  the  following  year,  by  which 
all  the  coasts  and  islands  north  of  the  latitude  of  54  degrees 
40  minutes,  and  the  whole  territory  west  of  a  line  drawn  along 
the  summits  of  the  highlands  bordering  the  western  shores  of 
the   continent,  from  that  parallel  northward  to  Mount  St.  Elias, 


V\ 


I 


m 


8 


GEOGRAPHY GENRUAL    VIEW. 


1    i 


'! 


\t  i' 


m:  i 


under  the  60th  degree,  and  thence  due  north  to  the  Arctic  Sea, 
were  declared  to  be  the  exclusive  properly  of  Russia,  while  all 
north  and  east  of  that  line  were  to  belont,'  to  Great  Britain. 

Thus  we  find  on  the  western  side  of  North  America  only  two 
lines  of  distinct  boundary  or  partition,  as  yet  settled  between  the 
governments  of  civilized  nations — the  one  between  two  powers, 
the  United  States  and  Mexico  —  and  the  other  between  two  ditter- 
ent  powers.  Great  Britain  and  Russia  —  each  line  traversing  the 
whole  breadth  of  the  Pacific  section  of  the  continent.  Of  the 
vast  territory  comprised  between  these  two  lines,  no  spot  has 
yet  been  assigned  by  mutual  agreement  to  any  civilized  nation. 
The  United  States  claim  the  country  northward  from  the  452d 
parallel,  and  Great  Britain  claims  that  extending  south  and  east 
from  the  other  line,  each  to  a  distance  undefined,  but  so  far  as  to 
secure  for  itself  the  whole,  or  nearly  the  whole,  of  tiie  region 
traversed  by  the  Columbia  River  ;  and,  neither  nation  being  willing 
to  recede  from  its  pretensions,  all  the  countries  claimed  by  either, 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  remain,  by  convention  between  the 
two  governments  concluded  in  1821,  free  and  open  to  the  citizens 
or  subjects  of  both. 

It  would  be  improper  here  to  omit  to  notice  the  group  of  the 
San(livic/i  Islands,  or  llaivniian  Archipcla<ro,  as  they  are  some- 
times called,  which,  from  their  peculiar  position,  within  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  miles  of  the  American  coast,  between  the  IDth 
and  the  22(1  parallels  of  latitude,  in  the  direct  track  of  vessels 
crossing  the  ocean,  as  well  as  from  the  productiveness  of  their  soil 
and  the  amenity  of  their  climate,  seem  destined  to  be,  to  the  coun- 
tries bordering  on  the  North  Pacific,  what  the  West  Indies  are  to 
those  on  the  North  Atlantic ;  and  probably  to  alVord,  to  some  mar- 
itime nation,  the  means  of  exerting  a  powerful  inlluence,  jmlitical 
as  well  as  connnercial,  over  the  whole  western  division  of  America. 
They  remain  in  the  possession  of  their  aboriginal  occupants,  who 
appear  to  evince  considerable  aptitude  to  receive  instruction,  and 
have,  with  the  aid  of  some  missionaries  from  the  United  States, 
established  a  regular  government  in  the  form  of  a  hereditary  mon- 
archy, under  constitutional  limits.  Their  independence  has,  within 
a  few  years,  been  more  than  once  threatened,  and  must  always  be 
in  danger,  from  the  jealousy  or  ambition  of  the  great  maritime 
powers  of  I'Airope  and  America ;  to  one  or  the  other  of  which  they 
will  doubtless  be  rendered  subject,  whenever  the  present  peaceful 
condition  of  the  world  is  broken  by  war  between  those   powers. 

Having  presented  this  concise  general  view  of  the  western  sec- 
tion of  North  America,  its  divisions  will  now  be  examined  in  de- 
tail, beginning  with  the  most  southern,  under  the  heads  of  Cali- 
fornia,   OregoiN,  and  Russian  America. 


m 


c  Sea, 
lile  all 


,ly  two 
eii  the 
)o\vers, 

dirter- 
ng  the 
or  the 
)ot  has 

nation, 
he  4'2d 
nd  cast 
ir  as  to 
roLiion 

r  willing 

r  either, 

'eeu  the 

citizens 

{)  of  the 
•e  sonio- 
rt'o  thon- 
Uie   IDth 
vessels 
their  soil 
ho  coun- 
.>s  are  to 
ine  inar- 
|)olitical 
America. 
Mts,  who 
ion,  and 
States, 
jiry  inon- 
s,  within 
Iways  be 
maritime 
[lich  they 
peaceful 
powers, 
itern  sec- 
1  in  de- 
lof  Cali- 


CALIFORNIA. 


TnK  name  Cah'fonna  was  first  assi^^ned,  by  the  Spaniards,  in 
1530,  to  the  southern  portion  of  the  great  peninsula  which  ex- 
tends on  the  western  side  of  North  America,  from  the  3'2d  de- 
gree of  latitude  to  and  within  the  limits  of  the  torrid  zone ;  and 
it  was  afterwards  made  to  comprehend  the  whole  division  of  the 
continent  north-west  of  Mexico,  just  as  that  of  Florida  was  ap- 
plied to  the  opposite  portion  on  the  Atlantic  side.  At  the  present 
day,  California  is  usually  considered  as  including'  the  peninsula,  and 
the  territory  extending  from  it,  on  the  Pacific,  northward  as  far  as 
the  limits  of  Oregon,  or  the  country  drained  by  the  Columbia 
River;  Cape  Mendocino,  in  the  latitude  of  40  degrees  19  min- 
utes, being  assumed  as  the  point  of  separation  of  the  two  coasts. 
The  Mexican  government,  however,  regards  the  4-2d  parallel  of 
latitude  as  the  northern  limit  of  California,  agreeably  to  the  treaty 
concluded  between  that  republic  and  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica in  18:28. 

California  is  naturally  divided  into  two  portions  :  the  Peninsula, 
or  Old,  or  Lower  California,  in  the  south,  and  Continental,  or  Neiv, 
or  i'ppcr  California,  in  the  north  ;  the  line  of  separation  between 
which  runs  along  the  3-2d  parallel  of  latitude,  from  the  head  or 
northern  extremity  of  the  Californian  Gulf  to  the  Pacific. 

The  Gulf  of  Calikokniv,  called  by  the  Spaniards  the  Sen  of 
Cortes,  but  more  commonly  the  Vermilion  Sea,  is  a  great  arm  of 
the  Pacific,  joining  that  ocean  under  the  2.'3d  parallel  of  lati- 
tude, and  thence  extending  north-westward  between  the  conti- 
nent on  the  east  and  the  Californian  Peninsula  on  the  west,  to 
its  head  or  termination,  under  the  .32d  parallel,  where  it  re- 
ceives the  waters  of  the  llivers  Colorado  and  Gila.  Its  length  is 
about  seven  hundred  miles  :  its  breadth,  at  its  junction  with  the 
Pacilic,  is  one  hundred  miles  ;  farther  north  it  is  somewhat  wider, 
and  still  farther,  its  shores  gradually  approach  each  other,  until 
they  become  the  banks  of  the  Colorado. 
9 


I 

lit! 


■!. 


■>   1 

'I  I; 


10 


GEOGUAPHY     OF     CAMFORNIA. 


/i!i 


I) 


i!  W 


r    iff 


'I':      ;;i 


«i      ' 


'P 


The  western,  or  peninsular  coasts  of  the  gulf  are  high  and  steep, 
offering  very  few  places  of  security  for  vessels  ;  and  not  a  single 
river  enters  the  sea  on  that  side.  Its  <'astern,  or  contin(;ntal  shores, 
are  generally  low,  and  the  sea  in  their  vicinity  is  shallow,  which 
renders  the  navigation  along  them  dangerous.  Tiie  |)rcvailing 
winds  are  from  the  south  ;  a  current,  however,  constantly  sets  out 
from  the  gulf,  which  is  perceived  by  vessels  passing  at  a  consid- 
erable distance  from  its  mouth. 

'r/ic  ttrrUonj  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  C((]i for nirni  Gulf  wclmlcs 
two  large  political  divisions  of  the  IMcxican  Kepnblic,  of  which  the 
northern  is  called  Sonora,  and  the  southern  Sinnloa,  each  extend- 
ing from  the  coasts  of  the  gulf,  to  the  <lividing  ridge  of  mountiiiiis. 
These  countries  are  as  yet  but  thiidy  iidiabited  ;  they  are,  how- 
ever, from  the  number  and  richness  of  their  mines,  the  prodiicrivc- 
ness  of  their  soil,  and  the  salubrity  of  their  climate,  calcidated  to 
support  an  immense  population,  for  which  the  gulf,  and  the  many 
rivers  flowing  into  it  from  the  mountains,  will  atTord  the  means  of 
communicating  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  port  of  (runi/- 
mas,  in  Sonora,  in  latitude  of  27  degrees  40  miimtes,  is  said 
to  be  one  of  the  best  on  the  Pacific  side  of  America.  Mnzat- 
lan,  in  Sinaloa,  at  the  entrance  of  the  gulf,  has  been  hitherto 
much  fre(|uented  by  vessels  ;  but  it  is  neither  so  secure  as  Guay- 
mas,  nor  is  the  surrounding  country  so  fertile  and  healthy.  Far- 
ther south-cast  is  San  Bias,  now  the  principal  commercial  port  of 
Mexico  on  the  Pacific  ;  and  still  farther,  in  the  same  direction,  arc 
NaviclacJ,  Acapulro,  and  Tehuanfepcc,  all  of  which  have  been  at 
times  the  seats  of  considerable  trade. 

The  Pkninsi'la  of  CALiroiixrA  is  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles  in  breadth,  at  its  widest  part,  where  it  joins  the  continent, 
nearly  under  the  same  parallel  of  latitude  with  the  city  of  Savan- 
nah, in  Georgia.  Thence  it  extends  south-eastward  about  seven 
hundred  miles,  varying,  though  generally  diminishing  in  width, 
between  the  Pacific  on  the  west,  and  the  Californian  Gulf  on 
the  east,  to  its  termination  in  two  points — Cape  San  Ijvcas 
the  southernmost,  in  latitude  of  Q'i  degrees  5-2  minutes,  corres- 
ponding nearly  with  that  of  the  city  of  Havanna  —  and  Cape  Pahno, 
sixty  miles  east  by  north  of  the  other,  at  the  entrance  of  the 
Californian  Gulf,  This  country  consists  entirely  of  stony  ridges  and 
narrow  sandy  valleys,  and  is  simply  the  prolongation  through  the 
sea,  of  the  great  maritime  chain  of  mountains  which  borders  the 
western  coast  of  North  America,  from  the  Californian  Gulf  to  the 
Arctic  Sea. 

The  climate  of  the  Peninsula  is  as  hof  ,(ii(i  .Iry  as  that  of  Arabia. 
At  its  southern  extremity  the  earth  is  occasionally  moistened  by  a 
shower  in  summer ;  near  iis  junction  with  the  continent,  rain  is 


'* 


GEOGRAPHY     OF     CALIFORNIA. 


11 


I  steep, 
1  single 

shores, 
,  which 
cvuilinj^ 
sots  out 

consid- 

includcs 
hich  the 
i!Xten(l- 
(iintniiis. 
re,  !io\v- 
iductive- 
lUiteil  to 
he  many 
neaiis  of 
(f  (hiaij- 
,  is  said 
Mazat- 
hitherto 
as  Guay- 

port  of 
ction,  arc 
been  at 

iiid  tliirty 
onliucnt, 
Savan- 
)Ut  seven 
width, 
Gulf  on 
n  Lucas 
corrcs- 
)c  Ptthno, 
of   the 
idges  and 
ough  the 
i)rders  the 
If  to  the 

f  Arabia, 
lied  by  a 
it,  vain  is 


never  seen  except  in  winter;  and  in  the  intermediate  portion,  many 
years  in  succession  pass  by  without  tlie  appearance  of  a  single  cloud. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  may  be  concluded,  that  the  springs  of 
water  must  be  rare  and  small,  and  the  surface  generally  bare  and 
free  from  vegetation.  Yet  wherever  irrigation  is  practised  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  the  soil  is  extraordinary ;  and  in  the  little  oases, 
where  a  scanty  stream  runs  through  a  narrow  sandy  valley,  pine- 
apples, f)lantaiiis,  ligs,  grapes,  oranges,  and  uU  other  fruits  of  torrid 
climes,  are  yielded  in  abundance,  and  of  the  finest  quality. 

The  aboriginal  population  of  the  peninsula  consisted  of  four  or 
'I  five  thonsancl  savages,  who  derived  their  subsistence  from  the  fish 

with  which  the  surrounding  seas  are  filled,  and  from  roots  growing 
on  the  borders  of  the  rivulets.  Until  the  beginning  of  the  last 
century,  all  tiie  attempts  of  the  Spaniards  to  form  establishments 
of  any  kind  in  the  country,  proved  fruitless.  At  that  time,  how- 
ever, the  Jesuits,  by  permission  of  the  King  of  Spain,  undertook  to 
convert  the  natives  <»f  the  |)eninsula  to  Ciiristianity,  and  to  initiate 
them  into  the  usages  and  arts  of  civilized  life  ;  with  which  view 
they  formed  a  number  of  missions  on  the  coast  of  the  gulf,  and, 
by  untiring  assiduity,  they  succeeded  partially  in  their  objects. 
In  1703  the  .Jesuits  were  expelled  from  the  Spanish  dominions, 
and  their  establishments  in  California  were  confided  to  the  Domi- 
nicans, who  have  ever  since  directed  them,  with  little  advantage  in 
any  way.* 

The  number  of  persons  in  the  peninsula  at  present  has  been 
variously  estimated  ;  from  the  best  accounts,  it  does  not  exceed  five 
thousand,  of  whoin  a  small  j)roportion  only  are  Mexicans,  and  very 
iiiw  are  of  Kuropeaii  origin.  The  principal  j)laces  now  occupied 
by  the  Alexicans  an;  —  Lorcto.  the  capital  of  Old  California,  a  mis- 
erable village  of  about  two  hundred  persons,  situated  near  the 
gulf,  opposite  the  small  Maiul  of  (.'anncn,  in  latitude  of  25  degrees 
14  minutes  —  Jj,i  I'az,  on  the  Bay  of  PichlUngue,  a  little  farther 
south,  the  port  of  comnnmication  with  Mexico  —  and  Port  San 
Jose,  near  Cape  San  Lucas. 

Tiio  east  coast  of  the  peninsula  has  long  been  celebrated  for  the 
size,  beauty  and  fineness  of  the  pearls  found  in  the  oysters  which 
abound  in  the  parts  of  the  gulf  adjacent ;  and  the  search  for  these 
precious  stones  has  always  formed  the  princi|)al  employment  of  the 
Spaniards  in  that  (piarter.  The  pearls  are  obtained,  with  much 
difficulty  and  danger,  by  Indians,  who  dive  for  them  to  the  depth 
of  twenty  feet  or  more,  and  of  whom  a  number  are  thus  annually 
drowned  or  destroyed  by  sharks.  The  value  of  the  pearls,  pro- 
cured by  this  means,  appears  to  be  small  when  compared  with  the 

*  Sop  Cliapter  III.  of  the  History. 


'if:  '■■ 


S:     I 


12 


GEOGRAPHY     OF     CALIFOllNlA. 


I 


u 


n 


I  r 


time  nnd  Inbor  spent  in  the  search  for  them  :  in  1825,  eight  ves- 
sels engiiged  in  the  business,  eollected  nllogether  five  pciunds  of 
pearls,  worth  about  ten  thoiisnnfl  dolhirs ;  oeeasionally,  however,  a 
single  stone  is  found  of  vahie  sniiicient  to  compensate  for  the  losses 
and  disappointments  of  n)any  years  of  fruitless  toil.  In  1825, 
Lieutenant  Hardy,  of  the  British  navy,  was  sent  to  the  Californian 
coast  from  London  with  two  vessels,  carrying  diving-btlls,  by  the 
use  of  which  it  was  expected  that  the  pearl  fishery  miiriit  be  con- 
ducted more  profitably  aM<l  with  less  danger :  unfortunately,  how- 
ever, it  was  discovered  that  the  oysters  always  lie  in  crevices  of 
the  rocks,  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  to  which  no  access  can  be  ob- 
tained by  meatis  of  the  diving-bell ;  and  the  enterprise  was  in  con- 
sequence abandoned. 

On  the  west,  or  Pacific  coasts  of  the  peninsula,  no  settlement  has 
ever  been  formed  or  attempted  by  a  civilized  nation.  This  coast 
offers  many  excellent  harbors,  btit  the  want  of  fresh  water  in  their 
vicinity  must  ever  prove  an  etlectual  obstacle  to  their  occu[)ation. 
The  principal  harbors  arc  —  the  extensive  fini/  of  Ln  Mas^ilnlena, 
in  latitude  of  25  degrees,  separated  from  the  ocean  by  the 
long  island  of  iSantn  Mnrgnrita,  which  appears  to  stretch  much 
farther  inland  than  had  been  until  recently  supposed  —  the  Jinij 
of  Stbasfian  Vizcaino,  under  the  2Sth  parallel,  east  of  the 
Ish  of  Cedars  —  Port  San  Bartolome.  called  Turtle  Jiaij  by  the 
British  and  American  traders  —  and  Port  San  (^iiintin,  nn  excel- 
lent harbor,  with  fresh  water  near  it,  in  latitude  of  .'30  degrees  20 
minutes,  called  by  the  old  Spanish  navigators  the  Port  of  the 
Eleven  Thousand  flnrins,  and  rediscovered  in  1800  by  Captain 
O'Kean,  a  fur-trader  from  Boston.  At  the  distance  of  a  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  from  this  coast,  under  the  parallel  of  28  degrees 
45  minutes,  is  the  small  rocky  island  of  Gundchipc,  the  existence 
of  which,  after  it  had  been  denied  by  many  navigators,  has  been 
ascertained. 

Continental,  or  Nkw,  or  Upper  California,  extends  from  the 
peninsula  about  five  hundred  miles  nortliward,  on  the  Pacific,  to 
Oregon,  or  the  country  of  the  Columbia,  from  which  it  is  divided, 
naturally,  by  the  Snowy  Mountains,  and  politically,  by  the  42d 
parallel  of  latitude.  Its  boundaries  on  the  east  arc  not  as 
yet  determined  in  any  way  :  some  geographers  consider  as  New 
California  only  the  region  immediately  adjacent  to  the  Pacific,  be- 
tween the  coast  and  the  summit  of  the  nearest  great  chain  of 
mountains  ;  others  extend  its  limits  to  the  Colorado  ;  while  others 
include  in  it,  and  others  again  exclude  from  it,  the  whole  territory 
drained  by  that  river. 

The  country  between  the  Pacific  and  the  summit  of  the  great 
chain  of  mountains  running  nearest  the  coast,  is  the  only  portion 


GEOGUAPIIY     OF     CALIFORNIA. 


13 


le  great 


of  Now  California  of  which  any  distinct  accounts  have  been  ob- 
tained. This  chain,  which  traverses  the  whole  of  the  j)eninsula, 
thence  continues  northward,  nearly  parallel  to  the  sea-coast,  as  far 
as  the  .'Mth  degree  of  latitude,  where  rises  Mount  San  Jhr- 
vardiii,  one  of  the  highest  peaks  in  California,  about  forty  miles 
from  the  ocean.  Beyond  that  latitude  the  coast  turns  more  west- 
ward, and  the  s|)acc  between  it  and  the  mountains  becomes  wider, 
so  as  to  exceed  eighty  miles  in  some  places  ;  the  intermediate 
country  being,  however,  traversed  by  ranges  of  hills,  or  smaller 
mountains  connected  with  the  main  ridge.  The  principal  of  these 
inferior  ranges  extends  from  Mount  San  Rernardin  north-westward 
to  its  termination,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco, 
near  the  J38th  degree  of  latitude,  where  it  is  called  the  San  Bruno 
Mountains.  Another  range,  called  the  Santa  liarhara  Mountains, 
runs  between  the  one  before-mentioned  and  the  coast,  and  termi- 
nates in  the  north  at  the  Cape  of  Pines,  on  the  south-west  side 
of  the  Bay  of  Monterey.  Kast  of  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  is  the 
liolbonis  ri<lirr,  between  which  and  that  of  San  liruno  is  the  long 
valley  of  Tulc,  containing  several  large  lakes. 

The  southernmost  part  of  New  California  resembles  the  penin- 
sula in  climate,  being  very  hot  and  dry,  except  during  a  short  time 
in  the  winter.  Farther  north  the  wet  season  increases  in  length, 
and  about  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  the  rains  arc  almost  constant 
from  November  to  April,  the  earth  being  moistened  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  year  by  heavy  dews  and  fogs.  Snow  and  ice  are 
sometimes  seen  in  the  winter  on  the  shores  of  this  bay,  but  never 
farther  south,  except  on  the  mountain-tops.  The  supply  of  water 
from  the  heavens,  liowever,  sometimes  ceases  for  nearly  two  years 
iti  succession,  even  at  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  ;  such  a  drought 
Avas  experienced  there  in  ISIO  and  1841,  during  which  the  inhab- 
itants suftbred  severely. 

The  prevailing  winds  on  this  coast  are  the  south-cast,  which 
blows  generally  from  April  to  November  ;  and  the  north-west, 
which  is  almost  constant  during  the  remainder  of  the  year.  It  is, 
however,  remarked,  that  the  north-west  wind  is  more  regular  and 
violent  north  of  Cape  Conception,  a  point  near  the  .'35th  de- 
gree of  latitude,  and  the  south-east,  on  the  coasts  south  of  that 
place. 

Among  the  valleys  in  this  part  of  California,  are  many  streams, 
some  of  which  discharge  large  quantities  of  water  in  the  rainy 
season  ;  but  no  river  is  known  to  flow  through  the  maritime  ridge 
of  tnountains  from  the  interior  to  the  Pacific,  except  perhaps  the 
Sacramento,  falling  into  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  though  several 
are  thus  represented  on  tlie  maps.  The  valleys  thus  watered  atibrd 
abundant  pasturage  for  cattle,  with  which  they  are  covered  ;  there 


mH 


'■H 


% 


14 


GEOGHAPIIY     OF     CALIFOIIMA. 


.1 


;i  11 


■III 

f 


I 


are,  however,  but  two  tracts  of  country  capable  of  support in<?  lari^e 
numbers  of  inhabitants,  which  arc,  that  west  of  Moinit  San  Hernar- 
din,  and  that  surrounding  the  Itay  of  San  Francisco  ;  and  even  in 
these  phiccs,  artificial  irrigation  would  be  indispensable  for  success 
in  agriculture. 

The  animals  originally  found  in  California,  were  buflaloes.  bears, 
deer,  wild  hogs,  wild  siicep,  beavers,  foxes,  and  many  others  not 
known  elsewliere  ;  sea  otters  were  also  very  abundant  in  the  bays 
of  Monterey  and  San  Francisco,  but  are  now  seldom  seen.  One 
of  the  scourges  of  this  part  of  America  is  the  cluipul.  a  kind  of 
grasshopper,  which  appears  iii  the  summer,  especially  after  a  long 
continuance  of  dry  weather,  in  clouds,  like  the  locusts  of  Southern 
Asia,  destroying  every  vegetable  substance  found  in  their  way. 
Cattle  and  hors(!S  were  introduced  into  California  by  the  Spaniards 
from  Mexico  during  the  last  century,  and  have  increased  in  an  ex- 
traordinary degree,  particularly  in  the  i)lains  and  valleys  between 
the  coast  and  the  mountains  of  the  northern  |)ortion. 

The  aborigines  of  Upper  California  are  generally  considered  less 
ferocious  and  violent,  but  more  indolent  and  vicious,  than  those  of 
the  peninsula;  they  have,  however,  been  pUvcd,  by  those  who  have 
had  the  opportunity  of  studying  their  character  and  dispositions, 
with  the  Hottentots,  the  Patagonians,  and  t!je  Australians,  among 
the  lowest  of  the  human  race.  The  first  attempt  to  civilize  these 
people,  was  made  by  the  Spaniards  in  1769,  immediately  after  the 
expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  the  peninsula.  With  this  object,  a 
number  of  missions  were  formed  near  the  coast,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Franciscan  friars,  forts  being  at  the  same  time  erected  in 
various  places,  for  the  security  of  the  missions  and  the  occupation 
of  the  country.  Towns  were  ^subsequently  laid  out  and  settled, 
and  public  farms  were  cultivated  by  the  natives  under  the  direction 
of  the  friars  and  soldiers.  All  these  establishments  have  declined 
considerably  since  the  overthrow  of  the  Spanish  government  in 
Mexico,  in  consequence  of  want  of  funds  and  the  diminution  of 
the  influence  of  the  priesthood  ;  of  late  years,  however,  the  com- 
merce of  the  country  has  increased,  and  many  vessels,  chiefly  from 
the  United  States,  now  resort  to  its  j)orts,  laden  with  manufactured 
articles,  for  which  they  receive  hides  and  tallow  in  return.* 

In  1835  the  number  of  the  missions  was  twenty-one,  and  of  the 
towns  seven ;  to  which  were  attached  about  twenty-three  thousand 
persons,  mostly  of  the  aboriginal  race  ;  many  of  the  missions  have, 
however,  been  deserted  since  that  time.  These  places  are  nearly 
all  situated  immediately  on  the  coast,  though  some  of  the  most 
extensive  and  flourishing  are  farther  in  the  interior.     For  their 

"  Sec  Chapters  IV.  and  XVII.  ol  the  History. 


i 


CiEOOKAPHY     or     CALf  0RN14^. 


16 


12;  large 
15cin;ir- 

L'VCIl   ill 

success 

s.  henrs, 
lers  not 
iIk:  buys 
1.  Olio 
kind  of 
r  a  lont^ 
5outlicrn 
cir  way. 
paiiiards 
n  an  ex- 
bclwccn 

Icred  less 
those  of 
ivlio  have 
lositioiis, 
s,  among 
lize  these 
after  the 
object,  a 
he  direc- 
ccted  in 
cupation 
settled, 
lirection 
decHiied 
iment  in 
ution  of 
the  com- 
cHy  from 
Lifactured 

nd  of  the 
thousand 
ons  have, 
re  nearly 
the  most 
For  their 


I 


i 


government  tlioy  arc  arranged  in  four  c  istricts,  en  1  bearing  the 
name  o(  the  principal  presidio  or  fortrch>^  on  the  t  msf,  numoly  ; 
Stin  Diriro,  Snnta  liarhara,  Monterey,  and  Sun  Frntuisco. 

San  l)iii(o,  the  southernmost  settlement  of  any  importan*  ■  on 
the  Pacific  coast  of  California,  and  the  first  established  I  the 
Hpaniards  in  that  country,  is  situated  on  the  north  side,  and  near 
the  entrance  of  an  extensive  bay,  which  communicates  with  tlio 
ocean  by  a  narrow  passage  opening  to  the  south,  in  the  lati- 
tude of  3'2  degrees  41  minutes.  The  bay  runs  into  the  land 
about  ten  miles,  and  is  separated  from  the  Pacific  by  a  ridge  of 
sand  ;  vessels  of  any  size  may  enter  it,  and  find  safe  anchorage 
and  protection  from  all  winds  within  a  mile  of  the  northern  shore. 
TIk!  town  of  San  Diego,  the  trade  of  which  is  probably  greater 
than  that  of  any  other  i)lace  in  California,  is  a  small  village,  situ- 
ated about  a  mile  north  of  the  bay.  The  i)resi<lio  is  a  mud  fort, 
two  miles  farther  inland  ;  besides  wliich,  there  are  some  fortifica- 
tions capable  of  commanding  the  entrance  of  the  port.  The  mis- 
sion is  (listant  seven  miles  from  the  presidio,  in  a  valley,  through 
which  a  torrent  of  fine  water  rushes  during  the  rainy  season. 
Son  Juan  is  a  small,  unsafe  and  inconvenient  harbor,  in  latitude 
of  iV'i  degrees  27  niinutes,  about  sixty  miles  north-west  of  San 
Diego.  Farther  west  is  Snn  Pedro,  in  latitude  of  33  degrees 
43  minutes,  open  to  the  south-west  winds,  but  totally  shel- 
tered from  the  north-west.  The  country  immediately  around 
these  places  is  sandy  and  barren,  yielding  little  besides  grass 
for  cattle  ;  in  the  interior,  however,  is  the  wide  tract  already 
mentioned,  extending  to  Mount  San  Bernardin,  which  is  said 
to  be  of  great  fertility  wherever  it  is  properly  irrigated,  pro- 
ducing wheat,  vines,  olives,  and  fruits  of  various  kinds.  In  this 
tract,  at  the  disfanre  of  thirty  miles  from  the  sea,  stands  PiiMo  de 
los  An^dca,  the  largest  town  in  California,  containing  a  tiiousand 
inhabitants  ;  and  near  it  is  tiie  Mission  of  San  ({abrid,  the  vine- 
yards of  which  formerly  yielded  a  large  supply  of  good  wine. 

From  Port  San  I'edro  the  Californian  coast  runs  westward  more 
than  a  hundred  miles  to  Cape  Conception,  a  point  situated  in 
latitude  of  34  degrees  '2-1  minutes,  which  is  as  much  dreaded 
by  navigators,  on  account  of  the  violence  and  frequency  of  the 
storms  in  its  vi(;iiiity,  as  Cape  Ilatteras,  near  the  same  parallel 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  continent.  Opposite  this  part  of 
the  coast  are  the  Islands  of  Santa  Barbara,  the  only  ones  of  any 
great  extent  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Pacific,  between  the  en- 
trance of  the  Calilornian  Gulf  and  the  40th  degree  of  lati- 
tude. They  are  cJL'lit  in  number,  of  which  four,  called  Santa  Criiz, 
Santa  Rosa,  Santa  ('atalina,i\iu\  San  CIriiitntc,  contain  from  twenty 
to  fifty  square  miles  of  surface  each  ;  the  others  being  mere  rocks. 


I 


ik 


^1 


Ill 


Hi 


vM 


16 


(iKOnRAPHV     OV     CALlk'OHNIA. 


Between  the  Island  of  Santa  Cm/,  and  the  main  land  on  the  north, 
in  the  (.'haniid  of  Sitnfa  liarOara,  tiftcen  miles  in  width,  on  the 
north  side  of  which  stand  the  presidio,  mission,  and  town  of  Sunta 
Barbara:  the  hurhor  is  an  open  roadstead,  sheltered  from  the 
northerly  and  westerly  winds,  but  atfording  little  protection  to  ves- 
sels on  the  other  sides ;  the  surrounding  country  is  u  sandy  plain, 
divided  on  the  north  by  the  Santa  Uurburu  range  of  mountains, 
which  extends  along  the  coast  to  Monterey. 

At  the  distance  of  a  hundred  miles  north  of  Cape  Conception 
tije  Santa  Barbara  range  of  mountains  terminates  on  the  shore  in  u 
point  called  the  Cape  of  Pines,  between  which  and  another  point, 
twenty-four  miles  further  north,  called  Cape  New  I'kw,  la  included 
the  liai/  of  Montn-ci/.  This  bay  lies  in  an  indentation  of  the  coast 
almost  semicircular;  its  southern  part  is,  however,  separated  from 
the  ocean  by  the  Cape  of  Pines,  and  thus  forms  a  cove  or  harbor, 
near  the  shore  of  which  statids  the  town  of  Monlcnij,  or  San  Car- 
los (Ic  Montvruj,  the  seat  of  government  of  California.  This  is  but 
a  wretched  village  of  two  or  three  hundred  iiiliabitanis,  mostly  In- 
dians; and  although  the  surrounding  country  has  a  good  elimattt 
and  soil,  and  miglit,  with  little  labor,  be  suliicicMitly  irrigated  by 
means  of  two  small  rivers  (lowing  from  the  mountains,  scarcrly 
any  article  of  food,  except  beef,  can  be  obtained  there.  The  mis- 
sion stands  three  miles  south  of  the  town,  in  a  valley  watered  by 
the  River  San  Carmelo.  The  presidio,  which  is  styled  a  castlt , 
near  the  town,  and  the  fort  on  the  Cape  of  Pines,  at  the  entrance 
of  the  harbor,  are  merely  mud  walls,  with  a  few  old  guns,  nearly 
all  of  them  inetlective. 

From  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Monterey,  a  sandy  plain 
extends  to  the  foot  of  the  San  Bruno  range  of  hills,  between  wliicli, 
and  the  Santa  Barbara  range,  is  a  long  valley,  traversed  by  a  river 
called  the  Jhieiiaiundira.  This  river  rises  in  the  soutji-east,  and 
falls  into  the  Bay  of  AFonterey,  though,  on  some  maps,  it  is  erro- 
neously represented  as  flowing  from  a  great  distance  in  the  interior. 
Across  the  maritime  range  of  mountains,  near  the  northerji  shore  of 
the  bay,  is  the  Mission  of  Saiila  Cruz,  to  which  vessels  eonnnonly 
resort  for  water  and  provisions ;  and  a  little  farther  in  the  interior 
is  the  incorporated  town  oi  Brand  forte,  having  about  three  hundred 
inhabitants. 

Cape  Jieycs,  under  the  88th  parallel  of  latitude,  the  next  re- 
markable head-land  on  the  coast  north  of  tlu;  Bay  of  Mon- 
terey, is  composed  of  high  white  clill's,  projecting  into  the  Pa- 
cific; and  when  seen  from  the  north  or  the  south,  it  has  the  ap- 
pearance of  an  island,  being  connected  with  the  main  land  on  the 
east  by  low  grounds.  A  few  miles  south  of  this  point,  are  two  clus- 
ters of  rocky  islets  called  Farelloncs,  immediately  east  of  which, 


,  ,1 


GEOGRAPHY     or     CALIFORNIA. 


17 


plaii) 
wliicli, 
a  liver 
ist,  und 
orio- 
utfrior. 
lore  of 
iiiionly 
Ulterior 
uiiilrod 

cxt  re- 
Moll- 

tlic  ;ip- 
011  llie 

,o  cliis- 
whicli, 


"n 


Port  San  Francisco,  or  the  Jhtj  of  Saint  Francis,  joins  the 
Pacific  by  a  pnssago  or  channel  two  miles  wide,  and  three  in 
length,  under  the  parallel  of  .'H  degrees  55  minutes ;  that  is, 
nearly  in  the  same  latitude  with  the  entrance  of  Chesapeake 
Bay,  and  with  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  From  this  passai^c  the 
the  bay  extends  north-eastward  twenty  miles,  and  south-eastward 
thirty  miles,  surrounded  by  ranges  of  high  hills,  and  presenting 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  sccuro  harbors  on  the  Pacific,  and 
indeed  in  the  world. 

The  northern  branch  of  the  bay  becomes  contracted  near  the 
entrance  into  a  strait,  beyond  which  open*)  a  basin,  called  the 
liatj  of  San  I'a'tlo,  about  ten  miles  in  diameter.  A  second  pas- 
sage, called  ti'c  Strait  of  Carf/iiims,  unites  this  basin  to  another, 
filled  with  islands,  into  which  two  or  three  rivers  empty.  The 
Sacramento  is  the  only  one  of  these  streams,  the  course  of  which 
has  been  explored ;  it  rises  on  the  western  side  of  the  great  range 
of  mountains,  along  the  base  of  which  it  runs  from  its  sources, 
near  the  41st  degree  of  latitude,  to  its  mouth,  in  the  Hay  of 
San  Francisco,  about  three  hundred  miles,  being  navigable  by 
small  vessels  for  half  that  distance.  The  lower  part  of  the  country 
traversed  by  this  river,  is  an  alluvial  plain,  parts  of  which  are 
prairies,  while  others  arc  covered  with  forests  of  nohlu  trees,  prin- 
cipally oaks ;  and  from  all  accounts  it  is  well  adapted  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  large  population.  Near  the  northern  l)r;uich  of  the  bay, 
are  the  missions  of  San  Francisco  Solano  and  Sim  Rafael. 

Tl'o  southern  branch  of  the  bay  extends  about  thirty  miles 
from  the  entrance,  and  may  be  considered  as  occupying  tlie  bot- 
tom, or  northern  extremity  of  a  long  volley,  which  stretches  between 
the  San  IJruno  Mountains  on  the  west,  and  the  Bolbones  range 
also  communicating  with  the  great  Californian  chain  on  the  east. 
The  presidio  and  mission  of  San  Francisco  are  situated  on  the 
western  shore  of  the  bay,  a  few  miles  south  of  the  entrance  passage, 
at  the  termination  of  the  Sun  Bruno  range  of  highlands  ;  the 
principal  place  of  anchorage  for  vessels  is  a  cove,  a  little  farther 
north,  between  the  western  shore  and  the  Island  of  Yerba  Buena, 
where  a  settlement  has  been  commenced  by  the  English  and 
Americans,  who  conduct  nearly  all  the  trade  of  that  part  of  Cali- 
fornia. This  branch  of  the  bay  is  about  twelve  miles  in  its  greatest 
breadth ;  it  terminates  in  the  south,  in  a  number  of  small  arms, 
receiving  streams  from  the  valleys  among  the  hills,  one  of  which 
forms  a  communication,  during  the  wet  season,  between  the  bay 
and  the  large  Lakes  of  Tule,  situated  farther  south.  Of  these 
lakes  very  little  is  known  ;  they  are  said  to  be  two  or  three  in 
number,  forming  a  chain  about  one  hundred  miles  long,  in  the 
environs  of  which,  is  a  large  population  of  natives.  Upon  another 
3 


^1 


tip 


i'-*'l 


\'\ 


1 .1 


18 


GEOGRAPHy     OF     CALIKOllNIA. 


If 


III 


^1 


t 


Jill 


M 


f:  Ji 


tii 


stream,  entering  the  bay  on  the  south-east,  are  the  town  of  San 
Jose,  and  the  contiguous  mission  of  Santa  Clara,  in  the  midst  of  a 
dehghtful  country,  producing  grains  and  fi'iits  of  all  kinds  in 
abundance,  and  affording  pasture  to  numerous  herds  of  cattle. 

The  excellence  of  the  harbors  afforded  by  the  Bay  of  San 
Francisco,  and  the  productiveness  of  the  surrounding  country,  will 
doubtless  render  it  one  of  the  most  important  spots  on  the  coasts 
of  the  North  Pacific.  It  is  already  attracting  the  attention  of  en- 
terprising individuals,  as  well  as  of  the  governments  of  maritime 
states  in  Europe  and  America ;  and  there  is  but  little  risk  in  pre- 
dicting that  it  will,  ere  long,  be  the  subject  of  contention  between 
one  or  the  other  of  those  states  and  its  present  possessors,  who 
have  neither  the  means  nor  the  will  to  develop  its  advantages. 

Immediately  north  of  Cape  Reyes,  in  the  latitude  of  38  de- 
grees 33  minutes,  a  small  bay,  called  Port  Boih;jra,  joins  the 
Pacific,  on  the  shore  of  the  northern  branch  of  which  the  Rus- 
sians, in  1812,  ''ormed  a  settlement,  chiefly  with  the  view  of 
supplying  their  fur-trading  establishments  with  meat  and  other 
provisions.  A  few  years  afterwards  another  settlement  of  a  simi- 
lar kind,  called  Ross,  was  made  by  the  same  people,  on  the  coast 
of  the  Pacific,  about  fifteen  miles  north  of  Bodega,  near  the  mouth 
of  a  small  stream,  named  by  them  the  Slavinica  lioss.  Each  of 
these  places  consisted  of  a  stockaded  fort,  enclosing  dwellings  for 
the  officers  and  magazines,  and  surrounded  by  other  buildings, 
among  which  were  shops  for  carpenters  and  smiths,  and  stables 
for  numerous  herds  of  cattle  ;  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Bodega 
a  farm  was  worked,  from  which  several  thousand  bushels  of  wheat, 
besides  peas  and  other  vegetables,  were  annually  obtained.  These 
establishments  of  the  Russians  in  California  have  been  a  constant 
source  of  annoyance  to  the  Spaniards  and  to  their  Mexican 
successors ;  they  have,  however,  it  is  said,  been  recently  ceded 
to  a  company  composed  chiefly  of  Americans,  who  seem  equally 
determined  to  dispute  the  authority  of  Mexico  over  the  country. 

Cape  Mendocino,  where  the  coasts  of  California  and  Oregon  are 
united,  presents  two  steep  and  lofty  promontories,  about  ten  miles 
apart,  of  which  the  highest  is  the  southern,  in  latitude  of  40 
degrees  19  minutes  —  nearly  the  same  with  that  of  Sandy  Hook, 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Bay  of  New  York.  This  cape  is  the  most 
elevated  land  on  the  sea-shore  of  that  part  of  America,  and  was 
formerly  much  dreaded  by  the  Spanish  navigators,  on  account 
of  the  storms  usually  prevailing  in  its  vicinity ;  but  those  fears 
have  passed  away,  and  Cape  Mendocino  has,  in  consequence, 
lost  much  of  the  respect  with  which  it  was  once  regarded  by 
mariners. 

The  interior  of  new  California,  east  of  the  mountains  which 


GEOGRAPHY     OP      CALIFORNIA. 


19 


1  of  San 
idst  of  a 
kinds  in 
ittle. 

of  San 
iitry,  will 
10  coasts 
)n  of  en- 
niaritinie 
k  in  pre- 
betvveen 
sors,  who 
ages. 
if  38  de- 
joins  the 
the  Rus- 
I  view  of 
md  other 
of  a  simi- 
the  coast 
the  mouth 
Each  of 
ellings  for 
buildings, 
id  stables 
)f  Bodega 
of  wheat, 
These 
a  constant 
Mexican 
itly  ceded 
in  equally 
ountry. 
)regon  are 
ten  miles 
de  of  40 
idy  Hook, 
the  most 
,  and  was 
1  account 
lose  fears 
sequence, 
;arded  by 


ins  w 


hich 


border  the  coast,  is  but  imperfectly  known.  According  to  the 
vague  reports  of  the  Catholic  missionaries  and  American  traders, 
who  have  traversed  it  in  various  directions,  the  northern  portion  is 
a  wilderness  of  lofty  mountains,  apparently  forming  a  continuous 
chain,  from  the  range  which  borders  the  Pacific  coast  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains ;  and  the  southern  division  is  a  desert  of  sandy  plains, 
interspersed  with  rocky  hills,  and  with  lakes  and  marshes,  nearly  all 
of  them  salt,  and  having  no  outlet  to  the  sea.  The  heat  of  the  sun 
in  these  plains  is  described,  by  all  who  have  experienced  it,  as  most 
intense ;  and  from  their  accounts  it  seems  to  be  certain  that  thia 
region,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  the  portion  immediately 
adjacent  to  the  Colorado  River,  must  ever  remain  uninhabited. 

The  Colorado  River  forms  the  only  outlet  of  the  waters  of  these 
territories.  It  is  formed  near  the  41st  degree  of  latitude,  by 
the  junction  of  several  streams,  rising  among  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
of  which  the  principal  are  the  Sids-k'adee,  or  Green  River,  and  the 
Sondy  River :  thence  tlovving  south-westward  it  passes  through  a 
range  of  mountains  where  its  course  is  broken  by  numerous  ledges 
of  rocks,  producing  falls  and  ra])ids ;  after  which  it  receives  the 
Nabojo,  the  Jaqmsila,  the  Gila,  and  other  large  streams  from  the 
east,  and  enters  the  Gulf  of  California,  under  the  parallel  of  32 
degrees.  The  country  on  both  sides  of  this  river,  for  some 
distance  from  its  mouth,  is  flat  and  is  overflowed  during  the  rainy 
season,  when  the  quantity  of  water  discharged  is  very  great;  and 
a  high  embankment  is  thus  made  by  the  deposit  of  the  mud, 
similar  to  those  on  the  lower  Mississippi.  How  far  the  Colorado 
may  be  ascended  by  vessels  from  the  gulf  is  not  known ;  but 
from  some  accounts  it  would  seem  to  be  navigable  for  three  or 
four  hundred  miles. 

Among  the  mountains  west  of  the  sources  of  Colorado  River, 
between  the  40th  and  the  42d  parallels  of  latitude,  are  several 
lakes,  which  have  no  outlet,  and  the  waters  of  which  are,  as  a 
necessary  consecjuence,  salt.*    The  largest  of  these,  formerly  called 

*  As  this  i)hysif  al  fnct  is  not  ns  yet  goiiprally  known,  a  few  words  may  bo  here 
said  in  I'xiiiiination.  Whenever  water  runs  on  or  throiij^ii  tlie  earth  for  any  dis- 
tance, it  iin<Is  salts,  which  it  dissolves  and  carries  to  its  final  reei[)ient  or  basin, 
either  the  ocean,  or  some  lalc(>  or  marsh  having  no  connection  with  the  ocean  or 
any  lower  recipient  ;  and  as  the  water  Irom  this  final  recipient  is  taken  away 
only  by  evaporation,  which  does  not  abstract  a  single  saline  |)article,  it  is  a  neces- 
saryjcdiisecpiencc,  that  the  salt  must  be  constantly  accnnndatini;  there.  Thus  the 
Dead  (Sea,  which  has  no  ontiet,  is  saturated  with  salts,  \vhile  the  Lake  of  Tibe- 
rias, iVom  which  it  receives  its  waters  tliroin;h  the  Jordan,  is  fiesh.  In  like  man- 
ner the  snil'aces  of  countries,  from  which  the  water  is  not  carrii'd  otf  either  by 
streams  or  inliltratioii.  are  always  imprc'.'nated  with  salt ;  of  this  the  high  plains 
of  Mexico,  and  the  valleys  immediately  west  of  the  Rocky  jAIonntains,  oiler  ex- 
amples; the  soil  di"  the  jiarts,  not  reirnlarly  drained,  beiiiu;  so  salt  as  to  render 
veiretalion  impossible,  even  wlieri'  all  the  other  rerpusites  are  fmiiished  in  abnn- 
(huice.  The  reviMse  is  not  always  true  ;  nevertheless,  the  saltnessof  a  lars^c  body 
of  water,  or  of  a  liin^e  extent  of  trronnd,  alfords  stront;  reasons  for  suspecting  that 


there  is  no  re"uhir  dra 


in  from  it  into  a  lower  rec!  pieiit 


;Ui 


ft'*'i 


vf  II 


30 


GEOGRAPHY  OF  OREGON. 


by  the  Spaniards,  Lalce  Timpanogoa,  but  now  generally  known  as 
the  Utah  Lake,  is  said  to  be  more  than  a  hundred  miles  in  length 
and  of  great  breadth  ;  it  is  chiefly  supplied  by  the  Bear  River, 
which  enters  it  on  the  north-east,  alter  a  long  and  circuitous 
course  through  the  mountains.  Farther  south,  near  the  39th  de- 
gree of  latitude,  is  Ashley's  Lake,  on  the  shores  of  which  the 
American  traders  from  Missouri  formerly  had  an  establishment. 


OREGON 


i'4 


t 

f  .  [ 

ii 


The  political  boundaries  of  Oregon  have  never  yet  been  deter- 
mined by  common  consent  of  the  parties  claiming  to  possess  it.  In 
the  United  States  they  arc  considered  as  embracing  the  whole 
of  America  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  the  4r2d  par- 
allel of  latitude  to  that  of  54  degrees  40  minutes.  Some  geo- 
graphers have,  however,  regarded  as  Oregon  oidy  the  region 
actually  traversed  and  drained  by  the  Columbia  River,  for  wliich 
Oregon  is  supposed,*  erroneously,  to  have  been  the  aboriginal 
name ;  and  the  British  government  has  always  insisted  on  a  still 
farther  contraction  of  its  limits. 

Leaving  the  political  ijuestion  to  be  settled  hereafter,  the  region 
of  the  Columbia  River  will  be  now  examined. 

The  natural  boundaries  of  this  region  seem  to  be  as  follows  : 
On  the  east,  the  R^cky  Mountains  from  the  42d  parallel  of 
latitude  to  the  53d  ;  on  the  south,  the  Snowy  Mountains,  which 
are  said  to  extend  nearly  in  the  course  of  the  -i^d  parallel 
from  the  Rocky  Mountains  westward  to  the  great  chain  bor- 
dering the  Pacific,  and  thence  to  the  ocean  west ;  on  the  west, 
the  Pacific  Ocean  from  Cape  Mendocino,  or  its  vicinity  to  Cape 
Flattery,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  near  the  49th 
parallel ;  and  on  the  north,  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  from  the  ocean 
to  its  easternmost  extremity,  from  which  a  ridge  extends  north- 
eastward to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  separating  the  waters  of  the 
Columbia  from  those  of  Fraser's  River.  It  is  impossible,  how- 
ever, to  define  those  boundaries  exactly,  as  the  topography  of  the 
interior,  and  particularly  the  course  of  the  great  mountain  chains, 
is  but  imperfectly  known. 

The  territory  included  within  the  limits  above  indicated,  and 

"  See  page  142  of  the  history. 


1 


GEOGRAPHY     OF     OUKGON. 


21 


nown  as 
n  length 
r  River, 
ircuilous 
39th  de- 
hich  the 
ment. 


en  detcr- 
ess  it.  In 
he  whole 
4:2d  par- 
onie  tico- 
le  rcij;ion 
for  which 
aboriginal 
on  a  still 


he  region 


follows : 
larallel  of 
ns,  which 
I  parallel 
Imin  bor- 
thc  west, 
y  to  Cape 
the  49th 
he  ocean 
ids  north- 
rs  of  the 
ible,  how- 
ly  of  the 
in  chains, 

ated,  and 


1 


i 


i 

I 


drained  almost  exclusively  by  the  Columbia,  is  not  less  than  four 
hundred  thousand  square  miles  in  extent ;  which  is  more  than 
double  the  surface  of  France,  and  nearly  one  half  of  that  of  all  the 
States  of  the  American  Federal  Union.  Its  southernmost  points 
lie  in  the  same  latitude  with  Boston  and  with  Florence  ;  while  its 
northernmost  correspond  with  the  northern  extremity  of  New- 
foundland and  with  Hamburg. 

As  the  Columbia  forms  the  most  important  geographical  feature 
of  the  country,  a  particular  description  of  that  river  will  be  pre- 
sented first. 

The  great  trunk  of  the  Columbia,  which  enters  the  Pacific  in 
the  latitude  of  46  degrees  15  minutes,  is  formed  at  the  distance 
of  more  than  three  hundred  miles  from  the  ocean,  by  the  union 
of  two  streams ;  one  from  the  south-east,  called  the  Sahoptin,  or 
SnaJce,  or  Lewis  Jlivcr,  and  the  other,  usually  considered  as  the 
main  river,  from  the  north-east.  These  two  great  confluents  col- 
lect together  all  the  waters  flowinsr  from  the  western  sides  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  between  the  4'2(1  and  the  54th  degrees  of  latitude. 

The  northernmost  sources  of  the  great  river  are  situated  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  near  the  5;3d  degree  of  latitude.  One  of 
its  head-waters,  the  Canoe  River,  rises  in  a  cleft  of  the  dividing 
chain,  called  by  the  British  traders  the  Punch  Bowl,  within  a  few 
feet  of  the  westernmost  source  of  the  Athabasca,  one  of  the  head- 
waters of  the  Mackenzie,  which  empties  into  the  Arctic  Sea.  This 
cleft  is  the  principal  pass  of  conununication  for  the  British  traders 
between  the  territories  on  either  side  of  the  ridge;  it  is  described, 
by  all  who  have  visited  it,  as  presenting  scenes  of  the  most  terrific 
grandeur,  being  overhung  by  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  one  of  which.  Mount  Brown,  is  not  less  than  sixteen 
thousand  feet,  and  the  other,  Mount  lloolcer,  exceeds  fifteen  thou- 
sand feet,  in  heiiiht  above  the  ocean  level. 

At  a  place  called  liont  Encampment,  near  the  52d  degree 
of  latitude.  Canoe  River  joins  two  other  streams,  the  one  from  the 
north,  the  other,  the  largest  of  the  three,  from  the  south  ;  and  the 
river  thus  formed,  considered  as  the  Mttin  Volumhia,  takes  its 
course  nearly  due  south,  through  defiles  between  lofty  mountains, 
being  generally  a  third  of  a  mile  in  width,  but  in  some  places 
spreading  out  into  broad  lakes.  In  the  latitude  of  48  1-2  de- 
grees, it  receives  the  Flat  Boio,  or  Mc(iillirrai/'s  River,  a  large 
stream,  rising  also  in  the  dividing  range  ;  and  a  little  farther  south 
it  unites  with  the  Flat-head,  or  Clarke  River,  scarcely  if  at  all  in- 
ferior, in  the  quantity  of  water  supplied,  to  any  of  the  other  branches 
of  the  Columbia.  The  sources  of  the  Clarke  River  are  in  the 
Rocky  Momitains.  near  the  44th  degree  of  latitude,  not  far  from 
those  of  the  Missouri  and  of  the  Lewis ;  thence  it  runs  north- 


: 


! 


^'\ 


■1  ',(1 
-1  (' 


i" 


III 


It; 


;^; 


I 


'    ■i 


J' 


r 


\1 


I  i 


I  m 


23 


GEOGRAPHY     OF     OREGON. 


ward  along  the  base  of  the  great  chain,  and  then  westward,  forrn- 
inj;,  under  the  48th  parallel,  an  extensive  lake,  some  distance 


'n* 


below  which  it  falls  into  the  Columbia  over  a  ledge  of  rocks.  After 
uniting  with  Clarke  River,  the  Columbia  turns  to  the  west,  and 
passes  through  a  ridge  of  mountains,  where  it  forms  a  cataract 
called  the  Kcttk  Falls ;  running  thence  in  the  same  direction 
between  the  48th  and  the  49th  parallels  it  receives  the  i!>polian 
from  the  south,  and  the  Okinagnn  from  the  north  ;  after  which 
it  resumes  its  southern  course,  and  thus  continues  to  its  junction 
with  the  great  southern  branch,  near  the  46th  degree  of  latitude. 
Tliese  streams  are  generally  navigable  by  boats,  the  passage  being 
however,  interrupted  in  many  places  by  falls  and  rapids. 

Of  the  great  southern  branch  of  the  Columbia,  the  farthermost 
sources  are  situated  in  the  valleys  or  holes,  as  they  are  called, 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  near  the  4'2d  degree  of  latitude  ; 
within  short  distances  from  the  sources  of  the  Yellow  Stone,  the 
Platte  and  the  Colorado  of  California.  Tho  principal  head-waters 
are  Hciinjs  River,  the  most  eastern,  and  the  I'ortneiil',  which  flows 
from  the  vicinity  of  the  Utah  Salt  Lake  ;  below  their  junction  t!u; 
Lewis  flows  west,  and  then  north-west,  receiving  on  its  way  the 
Mnladc,  or  Sickhj  River,  the  Roisc,  or  Reed's  River,  the  Salmon 
River,  and  the  Kooskooslcee  from  the  cast,  and  ihe  Malheur  and 
Powder  Rivers  from  the  west,  to  its  union  with  the  northern  branch 
of  the  Columbia,  near  the  46th  degree  of  latitude,  about  a 
thousand  miles  from  its  sources.  These  streams  are  all  bordered, 
in  most  places,  by  steep  mountains,  generally  of  volcanic  origin  ; 
and  some  of  them  rush  violently,  for  long  distances,  through  deep 
and  narrow  chasms.  Like  the  northern  branches  of  the  Columbia, 
they  also  abound  in  cataracts,  which  must  forever  prevent  their  be- 
ing used  as  channels  for  transportation  by  boats  ;  though  the 
country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Lewis  even  now  afl'ords  passage  for 
wagons  from  the  Rocky  Moimtains  to  the  point  of  junction  of  the 
two  great  branches  of  the  Columbia. 

The  width  of  the  Columbia,  at  a  short  distance  below  the  point 
of  junction  of  its  northern  and  southern  branches,  is  about  tlnee- 
quarters  of  a  mile.  Thence  it  flows  westward,  gradually  becoming 
narrower,  to  its  falls  in  the  chain  of  mountains  which  runs  nearest 
the  coast;  receiving  the  JValla-Jl nlla,  the  Cmatnlla,  John  Dai/s 
River,  and  a  large  stream  called  the  Fall's  River,  (the  Toicahnahioks 
of  Lewis  and  Clarke)  all  from  the  south.  This  part  of  the  Columbia 
is  navigable  by  boats  ;  but  the  passage  is  always  attended  with 
much  danger,  from  the  tortuous  course  of  the  river,  and  the  num- 
ber of  the  rapids  and  whirlpools.  The  falls  are  formed  by  ledges 
of  rocks,  over  which  the  river  is  thrown  with  violence,  between 
perpendicular  walls  of  basalt.     Four  miles  lower  are  the  dalles. 


"> 


I 


I 


1 


GEOGRAPHY     OF     OREGON. 


93 


pt!at  rapids  formed  by  the  passaj^e  of  the  water  between  vast 
masses  of  rock  ;  and  thirty  miles  below  these  are  the  cascades,  a 
series  of  falls  extending  about  half  a  mile,  near  the  lowermost  of 
which  the  tides  of  the  Pacific  are  observable.  All  these  cataracts 
have,  it  is  said,  been  passed  by  boats  descending  when  the  river 
was  at  its  floods;  the  navigation,  however,  according  to  all  ac- 
counts, must  be  most  perilous,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  ground 
adjoining,  it  seems  that  no  attempt  to  obviate,  by  art,  the  difHculties 
thus  presented,  would  be  successful. 

The  cascades  are  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia ;  near  them,  the  Clakamis  River  joins 
the  great  stream  from  the  south  ;  and  a  little  farther  down,  the 
Willamctt  or  MuUonomah  comes  in  from  the  same  direction  by  two 
mouths,  between  which  is  Wappatoo  Island,  thus  named  from  a 
root  much  used  as  food  by  the  Indians  of  the  country.  A  few  miles 
lower,  the  CowcUtz  River  enters  from  the  north,  below  which  the 
Cohmibia  begins  to  widen  ;  and,  at  the  distance  of  ten  miles  from 
the  sea,  it  spreads  out  to  the  breadth  of  several  miles,  forming,  on 
its  northern  side,  a  cove  called  Grni/s  Ray,  in  honor  of  the  com- 
mander of  the  first  ship  which  entered  the  river.  Finally  all  the  wa- 
ters, collected  from  these  various  sources,  rush  into  the  Pacific  be- 
tween two  points,  seven  miles  apart;  namely,  Cape  Adams,  on  the 
south,  and  on  the  north  Caj)c  Disappointment,  in  latitude  of  46  de- 
grees 19  minutes,  and  longitude  of  1'2'^  degrees  west  from  Green- 
wich, or  47  degrees  west  from  Washington. 

The  mouth  of  the  Columbia  is  the  only  harbor  for  ships  on  the 
whole  coast  between  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco  and  the  Strait  of 
Fuca  ;  a  distance  equal  to  that  from  the  mouth  of  Chesapeaixe  Bay 
to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  or  from  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar 
to  the  Straits  of  Dover;  and  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year  it 
is  difiicult  and  dangerous,  and  often  impossible,  for  any  vessel 
either  to  enter  or  quit  the  river,  on  account  of  the  intricacy  and 
variability  of  the  channel  and  the  violence  of  the  breakers,  pro- 
duced by  the  collision  of  the  river  floods  with  the  ocean  billows. 
Many  vessels  have  already  been  injured  in  attempting  the  passage, 
even  under  circumstances  apparently  the  most  favorable  ;  and 
many  have  been  lost,  when  nothing  seemed  to  indicate  the  ap- 
proach of  danger,  until  they  were  violently  thrown  upon  the  bot- 
tom. 

The  coast  south  of  the  Columbia  is  most  perilous  to  navigators 
at  all  times  ;  as  the  shores  are  every  where  steep  and  rocky,  and 
bordered  by  reefs,  on  which  the  waves  of  the  Pacific  are  driven 
with  fury  by  the  prevailing  north-west  winds.  Vessels  not  draw- 
ing more  than  eight  feet,  may,  however,  find  a  harbor  in  the  mouth 
of  the  Umqua,  a  small  stream  falling  into  the  Pacific  in  the  latitude 


11 


;>■■  m 


m 


i 


t, 

,1   t 


I; 


34 


GEOGRAPHY     OF     OREGON. 


J.. 


of  42  degrees  51  minutes,  immediately  north  of  n  remarkable 
promontory  called  Ccipc  Orford,  probably  the  Cape  iiluncu  of  the 
old  Spanish  navigators.  Small  vessels  may  also  find  anchorage  in 
a  cove  or  recess  of  the  coast  named  by  the  S|)aniards  Port  Trini- 
dad, under  the  parallel  of  41  degrees  3  minutes,  about  forty  miles 
north  of  Cape  Mendocino,  and  in  some  other  spots  ;  but  no  place 
on  tins  coast  can  be  said  to  oHer  protection  to  vessels  against  winds 
or  waves. 

At  the  distance  of  forty-five  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia,  under  the  parallel  of  47  degrees,  a  small  bay  opens  to 
the  Pacific,  which  was  discovered  in  May,  1792,  by  Robert  Gray, 
of  Boston,  the  captain  of  the  ship  Columbia,  and  named  by  him 
Bulfincli's  Harbor,  in  honor  of  one  of  the  owners  of  his  vessel ;  it 
has  also  been  called  (iraifs  Harbor,  and  on  English  maps  may  be 
found  generally  represented  as  Jl'hidbcifs  Bay,  after  one  of  Van^ 
couver's  officers,  who  surveyed  it  in  December,  179*2.  The  en- 
trance is  about  three  miles  in  width  ;  thence  the  bay  extends  east, 
south  and  north,  about  six  miles  in  each  direction,  receiving  at  its 
eastern  extremity  a  small  stream  called  the  Chckclis.  The  harbor 
is  however  shallow,  and  its  entrance  is  obstructed  by  bars  of  sand, 
factually  preventing  the  passage  of  all  vessels  drawing  more  than 
eight  or  ten  feet.  Besides  Bulfinch's  Harbor,  there  is  no  port  or 
place  of  security  for  vessels  between  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
and  the  Strait  of  Fuca ;  and  the  only  spot  worthy  of  mention,  on 
this  part  of  the  coast,  is  Destruction  Inland,  near  the  continent,  in 
the  latitude  of  47  1-2  degrees,  so  called  by  the  captain  of  an  Aus- 
trian trading  ship  in  1787,  in  consequence  of  the  murder  of  a 
number  of  Ills  men  by  the  natives  of  the  adjacent  country. 

The  Strait  of  Fuca  is  an  arm  of  the  sea.  separating  a  great 
island  from  the  continent  on  the  south  and  west.  To  this  strait, 
considerable  interest  was  at  one  time  attached,  from  the  supposi- 
tion that  it  might  be  a  channel  connecting  the  Atlantic  with  the  Pa- 
cific :  it  extends  from  the  ocean  eastward  about  one  hundred  miles, 
varying  in  breadth  from  ten  to  thirty  miles,  betv^een  the  48th  and 
the  49th  parallels  of  latitude  ;  thence  it  turns  to  the  north-west,  in 
which  direction  it  runs  three  hundred  miles  farther,  first  expanding 
into  a  long,  wide  bay,  and  then  contracting  into  narrow  and  intri- 
cate passages  among  islands,  to  its  reunion  with  the  Pacific,  under 
the  51st  parallel.  From  its  south-eastern  extremity,  a  great  bay, 
called  Admiralty  Inlet,  stretches  southward  into  the  continent  more 
than  one  hundred  miles,  dividing  into  many  branches,  of  which 
the  principal  are  Hood^s  Canal,  on  the  west,  and  Fufrct^s  Sound 
the  southernmost,  extending  nearly  to  the  47th  parallel.  This  in- 
let possesses  many  excellent  harbors,  and  as  the  country  adjacent 
is  healthy  and  productive,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that 


*  / 


/' 


GEOGRAPHY    OF    OREGON. 


25 


in 


great 


Id  intri- 

undcr 

|!at  bay, 

It  more 

which 

Sound 

'his  in- 

Ijacent 

le  that 


this  part  of  America  will,  in  time,  become  valuable,  agriculturally, 
as  well  as  commercially.  There  are  many  other  harbors  on  the 
Strait  of  Fuca,  of  which  the  principal  are  Port  Discovery,  near 
the  entrance  of  Admiralty  Inlet,  said  by  Vancouver  to  be  one  of 
the  best  in  the  Pacific,  and  Poverty  Cove,  called  Port  Nunez 
Gaona  by  the  Spaniards,  situated  a  few  miles  west  of  Cape  Flat- 
tery. That  cape,  so  called  by  Cook,  and  afterwards  named  by 
Vancouver  Cape  Classct,  is  a  conspicuous  promontory  in  the  lati- 
tude of  48  degrees  27  minutes,  near  which  is  a  large  rock,  called 
Tatoochc's  Island,  united  to  the  promontory  by  a  rocky  ledge,  par- 
tially covered  by  water.  The  shore  between  the  cape  and  Admi- 
ralty Inlet  is  composed  of  sandy  cliffs  overhanging  a  beach  of  sand 
and  stones ;  from  it  the  land  gradually  rises  to  a  chain  of  moun- 
tains stretching  southwardly  along  the  Pacific  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
Columbia,  the  highest  point  of  which  received,  in  17S8,  the 
name  of  Mount  Olympus, 

The  great  chain  of  mountains,  already  so  often  mentioned  as 
extending  along  the  whole  western  coast  of  the  continent,  runs 
through  Oregon,  generally  at  the  distance  of  eighty  or  one  hun- 
dred miles  (torn  the  shore,  as  far  north  as  the  49th  degree  of 
latitude,  where  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca  washes 
its  base.  Thence  one  of  its  ridges  runs  north-east  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  dividing  the  waters  of  the  Columbia  from  those  of 
Fraser's  River;  another  ridge  overhangs  the  sea-coast  north-west- 
ward ;  and  the  islands  of  the  JSorth-wf.st  Archipelago,  which  border 
the  continent  from  the  49th  to  the  58th  parallels,  may  be  regarded 
as  another  range  stretching  through  the  sea. 

The  part  of  this  chain  included  in  Oregon,  has  received  several 
appellations,  of  which,  no  one  is  as  yet  universally  adopted.  It  is 
called  —  the  Californian  Mountains  —  the  Clamtt  Mountains,  from  a 
tribe  of  Indians  inhabiting  a  part  of  the  country  on  its  western 
side  —  the  Cascade  Alountains,  from  the  cas^  .des  or  cataracts 
formed  by  the  Columbia,  in  passing  throdg!.  it  —  and  finally,  a 
patriotic  citiztMi  of  the  United  States,  has  proposed  to  call  it  the 
President's  Range,  and  has  assigned  to  some  of  the  highest 
peaks,  the  names  of  chief  magistrates  of  the  Federal  Republic* 
One  of  these  peaks,  in  the  latitude  of  44  degrees,  received 
from  Lewis  and  Clarke,  who,  first  of  all  white  men,  beheld  it  in 
1805,  the  name  o(  Mount  Jefferson  ;  for  which,  the  British  traders 
have  thought  proper  to  substitute  that  of  Mount  Vancouver.  The 
other  principal  points  in  this  ridge,  are— Mount  Baker,  near  the  49th 
parallel,  and  Mount  Rainier  under  the  47th ;  3[ount  Saint  Helens, 


*  The  autlior  of  these  pages  will  venture  to  suggest  one  more  name — The 
Far-lVest  Movntai.is. 


i 


i 


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#■  -  -■■J  I 


i 

%  , 
f 


I 


I^i 


26 


GEOGRAPHY   OF    OREGON. 


the  highest,  rising  not  less  than  fifteen  thousand  feet  above  the 
ocean  level,  due  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  for  which 
the  name  of  Mount  IVash'msrton  has  been  proposed  ;  Mount  Mac- 
laughlin  and  Mount  Maclcod,  so  called  by  the  traders  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  honor  of  two  of  their  factors  ;  Mount 
Hood,  near  the  45th  parallel ;  Mount  iShasti/  near  the  43d,  and 
Mount  Jackson,  a  stupendous  pinnacle,  in  tlie  latitude  of  41 
degrees  40  minutes,  which  has  been  also  called  Mount  Pitt  by 
the  British  traders.  Some  of  these  peaks  arc  visible  from  the 
ocean,  particularly  Mount  Saint  Helens,  which  serves  as  a  mark 
for  vessels  entering  the  Columbia :  they  present,  when  seen  from 
the  summit  of  the  Blue  Mountains  on  the  west,  one  of  the  grandest 
prospects  in  nature. 

The  country  between  the  Pacific  coast  and  this  westernmost 
chain  of  mountains,  consists  of  ranges  of  lower  mountains,  separated 
by  narrow  valleys,  generally  running  parallel  with  the  great  chain, 
and  with  the  coast.  The  climate  of  this  region  resembles  that  of 
California :  the  summer  is  warm  and  dry,  and  rain  seldom  falls 
between  April  and  November,  though  during  the  remainder  of  the 
year  it  is  violent  and  almost  constant;  snow  is  rarely  seen  in  the 
valleys,  in  which  the  ground  sometimes  continues  soft  and  unfrozen 
throughout  the  winter.  The  soil  in  some  of  these  valleys  is  said  to 
be  excellent,  for  wheat,  rye,  oats,  pease,  potatoes  and  apples,  fifteen 
bushels  of  wheat  being  sometimes  yielded  by  a  single  acre  ;  Indian 
corn,  which  requires  both  heat  and  moisture,  does  not  succeed  there 
or  in  any  other  part  of  Oregon.  It  is,  however,  evident,  that  with 
the  peculiarities  of  climate,  above-mentioned,  the  country  can  never 
be  very  productive,  without  artificial  irrigation,  which  is  practicable 
only  in  a  few  places.  Hogs  live  and  multiply  in  the  woods, 
where  an  abundance  of  acorns  is  to  be  found ;  the  cattle  also 
increase,  and  it  is  not  generally  necessary  for  them  to  be  housed 
or  fed  in  the  winter.  The  hills  are  covered  with  timber,  which 
grows  to  an  immense  size.  A  fir,  near  Astoria,  measured  forty- 
six  feet  in  circumference  at  ten  feet  from  the  earth  ;  the  length 
of  its  trunk,  before  giving  off  a  branch,  was  one  huridred  and  fifty- 
three  feet,  and  its  whole  height  not  less  than  three  hundred  feet ; 
another  tree,  of  the  same  species,  on  the  banks  of  the  Umqua  River, 
is  fifty-seven  feet  in  girth  of  trunk,  and  two  hundred  and  sixteen 
feet  in  length,  below  its  branches.  "  Prime  sound  pines,"  says  Cox, 
"  from  two  hundred  to  two  hundred  and  eighty  feet  in  height,  and 
from  twenty  to  forty  feet  in  circumference,  are  by  no  means  un- 
common." The  land,  on  which  these  large  trees  grow,  is  good ; 
but  the  labor  of  clearing  it  would  be  so  great  as  to  prevent  any 
one  from  undertaking  the  task,  until  all  the  other  spots,  capable  of 
cultivation,  should  have  been  occupied. 


plIltK 
I.C    CI 

wiiicj 
tlio  4: 
four 
tin-  V 
nry  at 
niinil) 
ficial 


GKOGRAPHY  OF  OREGON. 


27 


f)ve  the 
■  vvhicli 
t  Mac 

of  the 

Mount 
Ul,  and 
I  of  41 
Pitt  by 
cm  the 
a  murk 
en  from 
j;randest 

ternmost 
Rparatcd 
[It  chain, 
s  that  of 
lorn  falls 
er  of  the 
!n  in  the 
unfrozen 
is  saiil  to 
3s,  fifteen 
[ ;  Indian 
eed  there 
that  with 
an  never 
acticahle 
woods, 
Utlo  also 
housed 
er,  which 
ed  forty- 
le  length 
and  fifty- 
red  feet ; 
ua  River, 
sixteen 
says  Cox, 
ght,  and 
icans  un- 
is  good ; 
vent  any 
apable  of 


The  superficial  extent  of  this  westernmost  region  of  Oregon, 
does  not  exceed  forty  thousand  square  miles ;  of  which,  a  small 
{)roportion,  not  more  than  an  eighth  or  a  tenth,  is  fit  for  cultivation. 
The  l)est  lands  are  believed  to  lie  around  Admiralty  Inlet,  on  the 
Chekelis  River,  which  empties  into  Rulfinch's  Harbor,  on  the 
Cowelitz,  on  the  Willamet,  and  on  the  Umqua. 

Settlements  have  been  formed  by  individual  Americans  and 
by  the  Hudson's  Day  Company,  in  each  ot  those  parts,  as  also  at 
one  or  two  places  on  the  banks  of  the  Main  Columbia,  of  which 
those  in  the  valley  of  the  Willamet  appear  to  give  the  greatest 
promise  of  success ;  but  they  are  all  on  a  scale  so  small,  they  have 
existed  so  short  a  time,  and  the  accounts  as  yet  received  of  them 
are  so  inexact  and  so  much  at  variance  with  each  other,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  arrive  at  any  definite  opinion  with  regard  to  them.'"' 

'J'he  region  within  about  two  hundred  miles  east  of  the  western- 
most or  maritime  chain  of  mountains,  embraces  several  tracts  of 
country,  comparatively  level,  and  some  valleys  wider  than  those 
west  of  the  same  chain  ;  the  soil  is,  however,  less  productive,  and 
the  cliniiite  less  favorable  for  agriculture,  than  in  the  places 
similarly  situated  nearer  the  Pacific.  The  most  extensive  valleys 
in  this  region,  are  those  traversed  by  the  streams,  flowing  into  the 
Columbia  from  the  south,  between  the  maritime  range,  and  the 
Blue  Mountains,  which  form  the  western  wall  of  the  great  valley 
of  J.ewis  River ;  the  plains,  as  they  are  called,  though  they  are 
rather  tracts  of  undulating  country,  are  on  both  sides  of  the  north- 
ern branch,  between  the  46th  and  tlie  49th  parallels  of  latitude. 
The  surface  of  the  plaii.is  consists  generally  of  a  yellow  sandy  clay, 
covered  with  grass,  small  shrubs  and  prickly  pears ;  in  the  valleys 
farther  south,  the  soil  is  somewhat  better,  containing  less  of  sand 
and  more  of  vegetable  mould,  and  they  give  support  to  a  few 
trees,  chiefly  sumach,  cotton-wood,  and  other  such  soft  and  useless 
woods.  The  climate  of  this  whole  region  is  more  dry  than  that  of 
the  country  nearer  the  Pacific,  the  days  are  warm,  and  the  nights 

*  That  dilTiTcncps  of  opinion  slionUl  pxist  as  to  the  quality  of  lands,  is  not  siir- 
prisint;;  but  it  is  not  easy  to  acc-ouiit  for  tin-  extravagantly  erroneous  assertions 
wliii'li  liavc  Iicen  made  as  to  tlie  e.rtcnt  of  land  in  tiiis  ]i;irt  of  Oiegon,  possessing 
a  si)il  superior  In  inn/  in  the  United  States.  Tims,  it  lias  been  pravely  stated,  that 
tlie  valley  of  the  Willamet  contains  not  less  than  si.vtij  thousand  square  miles,  of 
tl(e  finest  land;  while  this  whole  valley  is,  in  reality,  merely  an  inconsiderable 
jiortion  of  the  westernmost  re;,'ion  of  Orei;oii,  the  siiperlieial  extent  of  which,  may 
be  easily  shown  not  to  exceed  forty  thousand  scjiiare  miles.  'J'he  Strait  of  Fuca, 
whicji  bounds  this  reijion  on  the  north,  is  in  latitude  of  JsJ  deijrces  ;  and  assuming 
the  'l-'d  parallel,  as  its  southern  limit,  its  extreme  length  isOi  dejj;rees,  or  less  than 
four  himdred  and  lifty  miles  I'uijlish  ;  its  breadth  —  that  is,  the  distance  between 
the  Paciiic  shore  and  ihe  great  chain  of  mountains  which  forms  the  eastern  bound- 
ary  of  this  region  —  does  not  avera;^e  eit;hty  miles  ;  and  by  mtdtiplying  these  two 
nimd)ors,  thirty-six  thousand  square  Knt;iish  miles  appears  as  the  utmost  super- 
ficial extent  of  the  westernmost  region  of  Oregon. 


r 


i 


\  ii 


m 


I 


i 


i 


28 


GEOGRAFHV    OV     OIIUGON. 


cool ;  but  the  want  of  moisture  in  the  air  prevents  the  contrnsf  of 
temperature  from  beiii^'  injurious  to  health,  and  this  country  is  re- 
presented, by  all  who  have  had  the  op|)ortunity  of  Judfiin^'  by  ex- 
perience, as  being  of  extraordinary  salubrity.  The  wet  season,  as  in 
the  country  nearer  to  the  Pacific,  extends  fron)  October  to  April; 
but  the  rains  are  neither  frequent  nor  abundant,  and  they  rarely 
occur  at  any  other  period  of  the  year.  In  the  southern  valleys 
there  is  little  snow  ;  farther  north  it  is  more  connnon,  but  it  seldom 
lies  long,  except  on  the  heiiihts. 

Under  such  circumstances  it  will  be  seen  that  little  encnurnge- 
ment  is  oflered  for  the  cultivation  of  this  part  of  Oregon.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  plains  and  valleys  appear  to  be  admirably  adapted 
for  the  support  of  cattle,  as  grass,  either  green  or  dry,  may  be  found 
at  all  times,  within  a  short  distance,  on  the  bottom  lands  or  on  the 
hill  sides.  The  want  of  wood  must  also  prove  a  great  obstacle  to 
settlement,  as  this  indispensable  article  can  only  be  procured  froni 
a  great  distance  up  the  north  branch  of  the  Columbia,  or  from  the 
PaciPc  region,  with  which  the  passages  of  communication  through 
the  mountains  are  few  and  difllcult. 

The  country  farther  east,  between  the  Blue  INfounlains  and  the 
Rocky  IMouniains,  appears  to  bo,  except  in  a  very  few  small  de- 
tached spots,  absolutely  uninhabitable  by  tliose  who  depend  on 
agriculture  for  subsistence.  It  is  in  fact  a  collection  of  l)are  rocky 
mountain  chains,  separated  by  deep  gorges,  ihrougli  which  (low  the 
streams  produced  by  the  melting  of  the  snows  on  the  smnmits  ;  for 
in  the  lower  grounds  rain  seldom  falls,  at  any  time.  North  of  the 
40th  parallel,  the  climate  is  less  dry,  and  the  bases  of  the  moiintains 
are  covered  with  wood  ;  but  the  temperature  in  most  places  is  too 
cold  for  the  production  of  any  of  the  useful  grains  or  garden  vege- 
tables :  the  parts  which  appear  to  be  the  most  favorable  for  aixri- 
culture  are  those  adjacent  to  the  Clarke  River,  and  particularly 
around  the  Flat-head  Lake,  where  the  hills  are  well  clothed  with 
wood,  and  the  soil  about  their  basis  is  of  good  quality.  On  the 
borders  of  the  Lewis,  and  of  some  of  the  streams  falling  iiiio  it,  are 
valleys  and  prairies,  producing  grass  for  cattle  ;  but  all  the  attempts 
to  cultivate  the  esculent  vegetables  have  failed,  chiefly,  as  it  is  be- 
lieved, from  the  great  difl'erence  in  the  temperature  between  the 
day  and  the  succeeding  night,  especially  in  the  summer,  which  is 
commonly  not  less  than  30,  and  often  exceeds  50  degrees  of  Fah- 
renheit's thermometer.* 

The  territory  north  of  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude,  and  north- 

*  The  thermomptrr  was  seen  by  Wyetli,  at  Fort  Hall,  on  tlie  Lewis,  near  tl  e 
43d  parallel  of  latitude,  at  the  fVee/,in<r  point  in  the  niorriint;,  and  at  '.)2  degrees  if 
Fahrenheit,  in  the  middle  of  a  day  in  August.  Frosts  occur  at  this  place  in  neatly 
e'.b'ry  month  in  the  year. 


CKOGRAIMIY    OK    OUKCiON. 


99 


Irnst  of 
y  is  re- 

by  ex- 
It.  us  in 

April; 
I  mrcly 

valleys 
seldom 

nnia^e- 
Oii  the 
idaptt'd 
e  found 
r  on  the 
ilat'le  to 
cd  iVoin 
\o\\\  the 
through 

and  the 
nail  «le- 
)end  on 
rn  rocky 
flow  the 
lits  ;  for 
'»  of  the 
ountains 
cs  is  too 
211  vcge- 
or  atiri- 
icularly 
cd  with 
On  the 
to  it,  are 
attempts 
it  is  be- 
ecn  the 
which  is 
of  Fah- 

J  north - 

,  near  tl  o 
(li>grees  if 
;  in  neaily 


west  of  that  drained  by  the  Columbia  river,  has  been  called  New 
Ciikilonia,  by  tin;  IJrilish  fur-traders,  who  first  established  posts  in 
it  beyond  the  r)(ith  parallel,  in  180(5.  It  is  a  sterile  land  of  snow- 
clad  mountains,  tortuous  rivers,  and  lakes  frozen  over  more  than 
two  thirds  of  the  year ;  presenting  scarcely  a  single  spot  in  which 
any  of  the  vegetables  used  as  food  by  civilized  people  can  be  pro- 
duced. The  waters,  like  those  of  the  country  further  south,  how- 
ever abound  in  (isli,  which,  with  berries,  form  the  principal  support 
of  the  native  population.  The  lurgest  lakes  are  Bnbine,  conimu- 
nicuting  with  the  oceun  by  Simpsoti's  liivcr,  and  Stuart^s,  C^iics- 
niTs  and  Fi'ascr\s  Lnkes,  the  outlet  of  all  which  is  Frnser''s  Jiher, 
a  long  but  shallow  stream  emptying  into  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  at  its 
eastern  extremity.  'J'he  const  of  this  country  is  very  irregular  in 
outline,  being  penetrated  by  many  bays  and  inlets,  running  up 
from  the  sea,  among  the  mountains,  which  border  that  side  of  the 
continent ;  between  it  and  the  open  Pacific  lie  the  islands  of  the 
North- West  Airhipehigo,  which  will  now  be  described. 

The  Nohth-VVkst  Auchii'klago  is  the  generul  nnmc  for  the 
remnrkable  collection  of  islands,  situated  in  and  nearly  filling  a  recess 
of  tue  American  coast,  about  seven  hundred  miles  in  length  and 
eighty  or  one  hundred  in  breadth,  which  stretches  from  the  48th 
degree  of  latitude  north-west  to  the  7)S\\\ ;  that  is  to  say  —  between 
the  same  |)arallels  as  Great  liritain.  These  islands  are  in  num- 
ber many  thousands,  presenting  together  a  surface  of  not  less 
than  fifty  thousand  square  miles :  they  are,  however,  witli  the 
exception  of  nine  or  ten,  very  small,  and  the  greater  part  of  them 
arc  mere  rocks.  'J'he  largest  islands  are  all  traversed  by  mountain 
ridges,  in  the  direction  of  their  greatest  length,  from  south-east  to 
north-west  ;  and  the  whole  Archi|)ela<j:o  may  be  considered  as  a 
portion  of  the  westernmost  chain  of  mountains,  running  through 
the  sea,  connecting  tliose  of  Oreiron  on  the  south,  with  the  north- 
ern range  of  which  Mounts  Fairweather  and  Saint  Elias  are  the 
most  prominent  peaks. 

Of  the  interior  parts  of  the  islands,  no  accounts  have  been 
obtained  ;  and  probably  nothing  can  be  said,  except  that  they  are 
rocky  and  barren.  The  coasts,  like  those  of  the  continent  in  their 
vicinity,  are  very  irregular  in  outline,  containing  numerous  bays 
and  inlets ;  and  the  channels  among  them  are  nearly  all  narrow 
and  tortuous,  forming  a  labyrinth  of  passages.  These  channels 
were  minutely  surveyed  during  the  years  between  1785  and  1*95, 
by  the  navigators  of  various  nations,  chieHy  with  the  object  of 
finding  some  direct  northern  communication  for  ships  between 
the  Pacific  and  Hudson's  or  Baflln's  Bays,  and  their  true  geo- 
graphical character  was  thus  ascertained  ;  before  that  period, 
they  were  regarded  as  parts  of  the  continent.     The  British,  who, 


i 


t 


*j'i 


I 


n 


M 


'  ,: 


30 


UCUCUAPIIY     Ur     OKEUUN. 


'S  '•, 


under  Voncouver,  made  the  latest  and  most  complete  exiiminn- 
tions  of  the  Arcliipelugo,  bestowed  names  on  the  islands,  chan- 
nels, capes,  and  bays,  which  still  retain  their  place  on  charts  ; 
several  of  these  have,  however,  already  lallen  into  disuse,  and  it  is 
not  probable  that  many  of  them  will  be  retained,  when  the  spots 
to  which  they  have  been  assigned  arc  occn|)ied  by  u  civilized 
population. 

It  has  already  been  said,  that  Ilussia  claims  all  the  coasts  and 
islands  on  the  Paciiic  side  of  America,  north  of  the  parallel  of 
54  degrees  40  minutes ;  and  as  this  parallel  divides  the  north-west 
orchipclago  into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  the  islands  south  of  that 
hne  will  be  considered  as  attach<^d  to  Ore<fon.  This  southern 
division  of  the  North-Wcst  Archipelago,  embraces  three  grou|)s 
of  islands. 

The  southernmost  group,  situated  between  the  49th  and  tho 
51st  parallel,  embraces  the  large  Island  of  (■^nndrn  and  I'oncouvcr, 
and  a  number  of  smaller  ones,  separated  from  Oregon  on  the  south 
and  east,  by  the  channel  already  described  as  the  Strait  of  Fuea. 
The  main  island,  which  received  its  present  long  and  inconvenient 
appellation  in  179*^,  in  virtue  of  a  compromise  between  a  British 
and  a  Spanish  commander,  each  claiming  for  himself,  or  his 
countrymen,  the  merit  of  establishing  the  fact  of  its  separation 
from  the  continent,  is  the  large-st  on  the  western  side  of  America, 
being  about  two  hundred  and  tifty  miles  in  length,  with  an  average 
breadth  of  forty-live  miles,  so  that  its  superficial  extent  may  be 
estimated  at  about  ten  thousand  s<|uare  miles.  On  its  western 
side,  are  several  large  recesses  containing  islands,  of  which  the 
principal  are  —  Xootka  Sound,  opening  to  the  Pacific  in  the  lati- 
tude of  49  1-:^  degrees  —  JSIttuua  near  it,  on  the  south-east  — 
and  Cli/ofjiiot,  a  little  farther,  in  the  same  direction,  north  of  the 
entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca.  These  places  were  formerly  the 
principal  rendezvous  of  vessels  engaged  in  the  fur-trade  ;  at  Nootka 
Sound,  transactions  occurred,  in  1789,  which  gave  to  that  bay 
much  celebrity,  and  first  rendered  the  north-west  coasts  of  America 
the  subject  of  dispute  and  convention  between  the  governments 
of  civilized  nations. 

(^ueen  Charlotte's  Island,  named  Jl'ashinirton's  Island,  by  the 
early  American  fur-traders,  who  first  ascertained  its  separation 
from  the  main  land,  forms  the  centre  of  another  grou|),  situated 
between  the  latitudes  of  52  and  54  degrees,  at  a  considerable  dis- 
tance from  the  continent,  and  from  any  of  the  other  islands.  The 
principal  island  is  of  triangular  form,  rather  less  in  su[)erficial  ex- 
tent than  that  of  Vancouver  and  Quadra,  though  Inrger  than  any 
of  the  remaining  islands  of  the  Archipelago.  Its  north-western  ex- 
tremity received  from  the  Spaniards,  who  discovered  it  in  1774, 


GKOnRAI'IlV    01'    OnEdON. 


81 


by  the 


the  nnmo  of  Cape  Santa  Manrarita,  but  it  is  now  Rcncrally  known 
as  Ciijie  \orih  ;  tliu  nortli-t'aMU;rti  end  was  called  Copt:  Invisible, 
by  tlic  Spniiiards,  and  by  tlio  Ahioricans  Samly  I'oint ;  the  south- 
frn  termination  is  Cape  Saint  James,  in  latitude  of  5-2  dej,'ree8. 
This  island  presiMits  u  number  of  ^ood  harbors,  which  received 
names,  first  from  the  Ameriean  traders,  and  afterwards  from  the 
naval  commanders  of  (ircat  Britain  and  Spain;  the  principal  of 
them  are  —  on  the  northern  coast,  Ifancock's  Jiivir  or  Port  Ks- 
trada,  near  Sandy  I'oint,  and  CrajVs  Sound  or  Port  Mazarcdo,  a 
little  farther  west  —  on  the  eastern  f.ido;  Skitikis,  in  latitude  of 
53  dejj[recs,  '20  minutes,  Cuinmashawa,  near  the  5:3d  degree,  and 
Port  Leah  and  '^ort  Sturf^cs,  farther  south  —  on  the  west,  or 
Pacific  coast,  arc  Master's  Sound,  in  latitude  of  52  1-2  degrees, 
and  Port  Insrraham,  near  the  north-west  extremity  of  the  island. 
The  country  around  some  of  these  harbors,  particularly  Hancock's 
River,  and  Magee's  Sound,  is  described  as  fertile  and  beautiful, 
and  the  climate  as  much  milder  than  that  of  other  places  situated 
farther  norih.* 

The  Princess  Roj/al  Islands,  linrke^s  Island,  and  Pitt's  Islands, 
form  the  third  division  of  the  north-west  Archipelago,  lying  near 
to  each  other,  and  to  the  coast  of  the  continent,  between  the  51st 
and  the  54th  parallels,  immediately  east  of  (|ueen  Charlotte's 
Islands.  Tliry  are  all  inconsiderable  in  extent,  and  nothing  is 
known  of  them  worthy  of  mention  here. 

Of  the  three  above  described  groups,  no  part  is  at  present  oc- 
cupied by  any  civili/.cfl  nation,  with  the  exception  of  Douglas 
Island,  the  northernmost  of  the  Pitt  group,  on  which  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  have  a  trading  [)Ost. 

To  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Oregon,  it  would  be  incon- 
sistent with  the  plan  of  this  ivork  to  devote  much  attention.  They 
make  no  figure  in  the  history  of  the  country,  over  the  destinies  of 
which,  they  have  not  exerted,  and  they  probably  never  will  exert, 
any  influence.  They  are  all  savages  ;  difterent  tribes  diflering 
from  each  other  in  habits  and  disposition  only  so  far  as  they  are 
afliccted  by  the  mode  of  life,  which  the  nature  or  the  country  oc- 
cupied by  them  respectively,  compels  them  to  adopt.  Thus,  the 
people  of  the  sea-coasts,  who  venture  out  upon  the  ocean,  and 
attack  the  whale,  are  much  bolder  and  more  ferocious  than  those 
of  the  middle  country,  who  derive  their  subsistence  by  the  quiet 
and  unexciting  employments  of  fishing  in  the  river,  and  digging 


■?» 


i  A 


lV'    'I 


*  Many  curious  pnrtictilrirs  rospcpting  this  islnnd,  not  to  be  found  olsewhero, 
are  contained  in  the  interesting,'  Journal  of  the  voyage  of  tiie  brig  Hope,  from  Bos- 
ton to  the  Nortli  Paeilic,  in  17'.»l-lt,  which  still  remains,  in  tlie  manuscript  of  her 
commander,  Joseph  Ingraham,  among  the  archives  of  the  Department  of  State,  at 
Washington. 


!J';r.! 


32 


GEOGRAPHY    OF    OUKGOX. 


If  ''\ 


for  roots.  Among  the  peculiar  Iial)its  of  some  of  these  tribes  should 
be  mentioned,  that  of  compressintj:  the  lieads  of  their  infants  by 
boards  and  bandages,  so  as  materally  to  alter  their  shape ;  which 
induced  the  discoverers  of  tiie  country,  to  apply  to  those  people, 
the  name  of  Flathead  Indians.  This  custom  appears  to  have  pre- 
vailed chiefly  among  the  tribes  of  the  lower  Columbia,  and  but 
little  among  those  dwelling  on  the  northern  branches  of  the  river, 
to  whom  the  appellation  of  Flathcads  is,  however,  at  present  con- 
fined. 

The  principal  tribes  or  nations  of  Indians  inhabiting  the  Columbia 
region,  are  —  or  rather  were,  for  many  of  them  are  extinct  —  the 
Clotsops  and  Chmooks  occupying  the  country  on  both  sides  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  great  river ;  the  Killamicks  of  the  Umqua ;  the 
Classets,  of  the  territory  on  the  Strait  of  Fuca  ;  the  Enishnrs,  ma- 
rauders infesting  the  passes  about  the  falls  of  the  great  river ;  the 
Chopinish,  or  Nez-pcrccs  of  the  Wallawalla,  and  Kooskooskee 
countries  ;  the  Kootanics  of  Clarke's  River  ;  and  the  Slioshoncs  or 
Snakes  of  the  Lewis.  In  the  part  of  Oregon  north-west  of  the 
Columbia,  are  the  Chilcotim  and  Talcotins,  between  which  tribes 
mortal  enmity  has  always  subsisted.  The  lilackfeet,  so  much 
dreaded  by  travellers  in  the  middle  region,  be!ong  to  the  country 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  the  Yellow  Stone,  and  the  Mis- 
souri above  its  falls  ;  and  annually  make  inroads  upon  the  Sho- 
shones  and  the  Chopunnish,  whom  they  rob  of  their  horses,  their 
only  wealth.  The  numbers  of  all  these  tribes  and  of  all  other 
persons  inhabiting  Oregon  together,  is  supposed  not  to  exceed 
twenty  thousand. 

Among  these  people  missionaries  of  various  Christian  sects  have 
long  been  laboring,  with  little  profit,  as  it  would  seem,  from  all  ac- 
counts. The  Roman  Catholics  appear  to  content  themselves  with 
the  administration  of  baptism,  in  whicii  their  success  has  been  as 
great  as  could  possibly  have  been  expected  ;  whole  tribes  submit- 
ting at  once  to  the  rite.  The  Methodists  and  Presbyterians  are 
assiduously  engaged  in  imparting  a  knowledge  of  the  simplest  and 
most  useful  arts,  and  have  thus  induced  some  of  the  natives  to 
engage  regularly  in  agricultural  pursuits  ;  but  the  poverty  of  the 
soil  generally  renders  their  efibrts,  in  this  way,  unavailing.  The 
last-mentioned  missionaries  also  endeavor  to  convey  religious  and 
literary  instruction  to  their  pupils,  through  the  medium  of  their  own 
languages,  into  which  books  have  been  translated,  and  even  print- 
ed in  the  country.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  better  to  teach  the  na- 
tives to  speak  and  read  English.  The  other  system  has,  however, 
been  generally  adopted,  by  the  British  and  American  missionaries, 
in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

The  aborigines  of  the  North- West  Archipelago,  are  universally 


GF.OGUAtMlV    OF    OaEGON. 


33 


should 
nts  by 
which 
jcople, 
e  pre- 
id  but 
3  river, 
it  con- 

lumbia 

—  the 

of  the 

la;  the 

rs,  ma- 

3r;  the 

iooskee 

ones  or 

of  the 

I  tribes 
)  much 
country 
lie  Mis- 
lie  Sho- 
3S,  their 

II  other 
exceed 

ts  have 
all  ac- 
rcs  with 
)een  as 
submit- 
ans  are 
est  and 
tives  to 

of  the 
The 
ous  and 
eir  own 
n  print- 

the  na- 
owever, 
onaries, 

versally 


■'{'M 


described,  as  daring  and  ferocious  in  the  extreme  ;  but  possessing 
great  self-command,  by  means  of  which  they  conceal  their  inten- 
tions, until  they  are  prepared  to  act.  The  history  of  the  fur-trade 
in  the  North  Pacitic,  presents  innumerable  instances  of  their  cru- 
elly and  treachery,  towards  foreigners  visiting  their  coasts ;  and 
many  vessels  have  been  taken  by  them,  and  all  on  board  murdered 
in  an  instant,  without  the  previous  occurrence  of  anything  calcu- 
lated to  excite  suspicion.  There  are,  also,  many  reasons  for  be- 
lieving that  these  people  are  cannibals ;  though  it  seems  probable, 
that  they  only  eat  the  bodies  of  their  enemies  killed  in  war. 

The  civilized  inhabitants  of  Oregon  are,  as  shewn  in  the  gene- 
ral view,  all  either  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  servants  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company :  the  latter  body  enjoying,  by  special 
grant,  the  use,  exclusive  of  other  British  subjects,  of  all  the  territo- 
ries claimed  by  Great  Britain  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and 
exercising  jurisdiction,  in  virtue  of  an  act  of  parliament,  over  all 
British  subjects  in  those  territories  ;  *  while  the  citizens  of  the 
United  Slates  are,  as  yet,  independent  of  all  authority  or  jurisdic- 
tion whatsoever.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  establishments 
in  Oregon  have  been,  until  recently,  devoted  entirely  to  the  collec- 
tion of  furs  ;  but  within  a  few  years  past,  many  farms  have  been 
laid  out  arid  worked,  and  large  quantities  of  timber  have  been  cut 
and  sawed,  and  exported  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  to  Mexico, 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Company.  The  settlements  of  the  Ameri- 
cans are  all  agricultural,  and  are  on  a  very  small  scale  ;  more  than  a 
thousand  emigrants  have,  however,  gone  to  that  country  from  the 
United  States,  during  the  years  1842  and  1843,  of  whose  move- 
ments and  establishments  no  exact  accounts  have  been  yet  re- 
ceived. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  establishments  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  are  called  forts,  and  are  all  sufficiently  fortified  to  re- 
sist any  attacks  which  might  be  expected.  They  are,  by  the  latest 
accounts,  twenty-two  in  number,  of  which  several  are  situated  on 
the  coasts.  The  furs  are  obtained  partly  by  hunters  and  trappers 
in  the  regular  service  of  the  Company,  but  chiefly  by  trade  with 
the  Indians,  who  take  the  animals :  they  are  sent,  at  stated 
periods,  to  one  of  the  great  depositories,  either  on  the  Atlantic  or 
on  the  Pacific,  whence  they  are  carried  to  London  in  the  vessels 
of  the  Company.  The  goods  required  for  trade  and  for  the  sup- 
ply of  the  forts,  are  received  in  the  same  manner ;  the  interior 
transportation  being  performed  almost  entirely  in  boats  on  the 
rivers  and  lakes,  between  which  the  articles  are  borne  on  the 
backs  of  the  voyageurs,  or  boatmen.     In  1838,  the  Company  em- 

"  See  Proofs  and  Illustrations  in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  letter  I,  No.  3. 


k 


m 


k^ 


'i- 


i 


■  ■  .)■■ 

1 ,  ■    i;  - 


■'  m 


34 


GEOGRAPHY   OF    ORGGOM. 


ployed  six  sail  vessels,  and  one  steamer,  all  armed,  on  the  coasts 
of  the  Pacific,  besides  three  larjj,e  ships  engaged  in  the  transporta- 
tion to  and  from  London.*  Of  the  persons  in  the  regular  service 
of  the  Company,  the  factors,  traders,  and  clerks  are,  for  the  most 
part,  Scotchmen  or  Canadians ;  the  voyageurs  are  generally  Ca- 
nadians or  half-breeds.  The  number  of  these  servants,  in  the 
country  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  does  not,  probably,  exceed 
four  hundred  ;  many  Indians  are,  however,  constantly  employed  in 
hunting  and  trapping,  and  as  boatmen  or  porters. 

Fort  Vancouver,  the  principal  establishment  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is  situated  near  the 
north  bank  of  the  Columbia,  at  the  distance  of  eighty-two  miles  in 
a  direct  line  from  its  mouth,  and  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles,  following  the  course  of  the  stream.  The  fort  is  simply  a 
large,  square,  picketed  enclosure,  containing  houses  for  the  resi- 
dence of  the  factor,  traders,  clerks  and  upper  servants  of  the  Com- 
pany, magazines  for  the  furs  and  goods,  and  workshops  of  various 
kinds  ;  immediately  behind  it  are  a  garden  and  orchard,  and  be- 
hind these  is  the  farm,  of  about  six  hundred  acres,  with  barns  and 
all  other  necessary  buildings.  West  of  the  fort  are  the  hospital 
and  houses  for  the  voyageurs  and  Indians ;  about  two  miles  lower 
down  the  river,  are  the  dairy  and  piggery,  with  numerous  herds  of 
cattle,  hogs,  &c. ;  and  about  three  miles  above  the  fort  are  water- 
mills  for  grinding  corn  and  sawing  plank,  and  sheds  for  curing 
salmon.  The  number  of  persons  usually  attached  to  tiie  post  is 
not  less  than  seven  hundred,  of  whom  more  than  half  are  Indians 
of  the  country,  the  others  being  natives  of  Great  Britain  (princi- 
pally from  Scotland  and  the  Orkney  Islands),  Canadians  and  half- 
breeds.  The  whole  establishment  is  governed  nearly  on  the  plan  of 
one  of  the  small  towns  of  Central  Europe  during  the  middle  ages  ; 
the  stockade  fort  representing  the  baronial  castle,  in  which  the  great 
dignitaries  of  the  Company  exercise  almost  absolute  authority  over 
their  dependants. 

Fort  George  consists  merely  of  two  or  three  log  houses,  situated 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Columbia,  ten  miles  from  its  mouth,  and 
occupying  the  place  of  a  trading  establishment  called  Astoria, 
which  was  founded  in  1811  by  the  Pacific  Fur  Company  of  New 
York.f  Fort  Umqua  is  near  the  mouth  of  the  Umqua  River, 
which  enters  the  Pacific  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  south 
of  the  Columbia,  and  affords  a  harbor  to  vessels  drawing  not  more 
than  eight  feet.  Fort  Nasqually  is  at  the  mouth  of  a  little  river 
emptying  into  Puget's  Sound,  the  southernmost  part  of  the  great 


•  For  particular  ncconnts  of  the  Hudson's  B;iy  Company's  systom,  seo  page 
392  of  the  History;  and  the  Proofs  and  Ilhistrations  niidcr  tiic.'  h  ttcr  1. 
t  For  accounts  of  this  enterprise  see  Chap  xiv.  of  the  History. 


"I 


GEOGRAPHY    OF    OREGON. 


33 


>  coasts 

isporta- 
service 

le  most 

illy  Ca- 
in the 
exceed 

loyed  in 

[udson's 
near  the 
miles  in 
I  twenty 
simply  a 
the  resi- 
hc  Com- 
f  various 
and  be- 
ams and 
t  hospital 
Ics  lower 
herds  of 
re  water- 
or  curing 
le  post  is 
3  Indians 
1  (princi- 
and  half- 
le  plan  of 
die  ages ; 
the  great 
)rity  over 

,  situated 
outh,  and 
Astoria, 
of  New 
la  River, 
ilcs  south 
not  more 
ttlc  river 
the  great 

n,  see  page 


arm  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  called  Admiralty  Inlet ;  near  this  place 
the  Company  has  a  large  agricultural  establishment,  which  is  said 
to  he  in  a  prosperous  condition.  Fort  Langley  is  at  the  entrance 
of  Eraser's  River,  into  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca, 
in  latitude  of  49  degrees  25  minutes.  Besides  these,  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  has  several  forts  on  the  channels  separating 
the  islands  of  the  north-west  Archipelago  from  the  continent ;  the 
northernmost  of  which  is  near  the  mouth  of  the  Stikine,  a  large 
river  emptying  into  Prince  Frederick's  Sound,  in  the  latitude  of  56 
degrees  50  minutes. 

On  the  Columbia,  above  its  falls,  the  Company  has  Fort  Walla- 
Walla  or  Nez-Pcrce,  near  the  confluence  of  the  great  northern  and 
southern  branches ;  Fort  Okinagan,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Okina- 
gan  River  into  the  north  or  main  branch  ;  Fort  Colvillc,  near  the 
Kettle  Falls  ;  and  some  others,  of  less  consequence.  On  the 
Lewis,  or  great  southern  branch,  are  Fort  Boise,  at  the  mouth  of 
tlie  Boise,  or  Reed's  River,  and  Fort  Hall,  at  the  entrance  of  the 
Portnenf.  North  of  the  Columbia  country,  are  Fort  Alexandria, 
on  Frasers  River,  and  others  on  the  lakes  which  abound  in  that 
part  of  the  continent.  All  these  are,  however,  on  a  very  small 
scale,  and  seldom  contain  more  than  two  or  three  clerks  or  traders 
and  a  few  Indians  or  half-breed  hunters. 

Of  the  American  settlements  in  Oregon,  no  exact  accounts  have 
been  obtained  of  later  date  than  the  beginning  of  1843,  at  which 
time  they  were  few  and  small,  being  indeed  little  more  than  mis- 
sionary stations.  The  principal  are  those  in  the  valley  of  the 
VVillamet,  then  containing  about  a  hundred  Americans  ;  another 
station  is  on  the  south  side  of  the  Columbia,  near  the  Cascades ; 
and  others  are  at  the  Walla- Walla,  and  near  Fort  Colville.  The 
whole  number  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  thus  established, 
di<l  not  probably  exceed  two  hundred  ;  they  were  all  apparently 
prospering,  in  consequence,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  rather  of 
the  industry,  economy,  and  morality  of  the  settlers,  than  of  any 
particular  advantages  offered  by  the  country.  The  thousand  and 
more  emigrants  who  have  since  arrived  in  Oregon,  will  succeed, 
if  any  can;  having  been  from  their  childhood  accustomed  to  the 
l;i!)ors  and  f)rivations  to  which  all  must  be  subjected  in  the  colo- 
nization of  a  new  country. 

The  American  hunters  and  trappers  generally  pursue  their  busi- 
ness, in  California,  near  the  head-waters  of  the  Colorado  River, 
and  about  the  Utah  Salt  Lake.  In  the  summer  of  each  year, 
they  assemble  at  one  of  the  places  of  rendezvous,  near  the  South- 
ern Pass,  where  they  exciiaiiire  their  furs  for  money  and  goods 
with  the  traders  from  Missouri. 

Before  terminating  this  sketch  of  the  Geography  of  Oregon,  it 


i 


111 


i; 


ii 


(-'V 


11 


36 


GEOGRAPHY    OF    OREGON. 


!'    ffl  i'-'  I 


will  be  proper  to  devote  a  small  space  to  the  regions  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  included  between  that  chain,  and  the  settled 
parts  of  the  continent  bordering  upon  the  Atlantic. 

It  has  already  been  said,  that  the  portion  of  these  regions,  be- 
tween the  38th  and  the  50th  parallels  of  latitude,  near  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  are  almost  as  arid  and  barren  as  those  on  the  other 
side  of  the  chain  ;  presenting,  except  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  rivers,  little  else  than  bare  rocks  and  sand.  Across  these  ter- 
ritories flow  the  Missouri,  and  its  great  tributaries,  the  Yellow 
Stone  and  the  Platte,  and  the  upper  streams  of  the  Arkansas,  fall- 
ing directly  into  the  Mississippi ;  all  of  which  rise  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  near  the  426  degree  of  latitude.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, none  of  them  seem  calculated  to  serve  as  channels  for  trans- 
portation between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  territories.  The 
Missouri  and  Yellow  Stone  each  take  a  devious  course ;  so  that 
after  ascending  them  to  the  furthermost  parts  at  which  they  are 
navigable,  the  distance  to  the  Oregon  countries  is  nearly  as  great 
as  from  the  mouth  of  the  Platte,  juid  the  difficulties  of  crossing 
the  mountains  are  far  greater.  The  Platte  is  the  most  shallow  of 
all  large  rivers  :  it  passes  through  a  country  nearly  level,  and  the 
annual  overflow  of  its  waters  only  serves  to  render  it  wider,  with- 
out any  increase  of  its  depth.  This  is  unfortunate,  as  its  course 
is  precisely  that  which  sjiould  make  it  the  most  direct  and  advan- 
tageous line  of  communication  between  the  Missouri  and  the  Co- 
lumbia :  its  northern  branch  runs  from  the  South  Pass  in  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  in  latitude  of  42  degrees  20  minutes,  six  hun- 
dred miles  nearly  due  east,  to  its  junction  with  the  south  branch  ; 
beyond  which  the  river  continues  in  the  same  course,  three  hun- 
dred miles  further  to  its  union  with  the  Missouri.* 

Along  the  banks  of  the  main  river  and  its  noithern  branch, 
nature  has  provided  a  road,  which,  by  some  assistance  from  art  at 
certain  points,  will  be  one  of  the  best  in  the  world  ;  on  it  wagons 
now  proceed  with  little  difficulty  up  the  Platte,  and  through  the 
South  Pass  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Colorado,  there  called  the 
Green  River,  whence  they  continue  northward  across  the  ridge 
separating  that  river  from  the  Lewis,  the  great  south  branch  of  the 
Columbia.  The  difficulties  of  the  road  in  Oregon  are  greater,  but 
they  have  already  been  partially  overcome  ;  a  light  carriage  was 
several  years  since  driven  from  Missouri  to  the  Falls  of  the  Colum- 
bia ;  and  heavy  wagons  now  perform  the  same  journey.     In  order 


*  The  Phitte  River,  from  its  junction  with  the  Missouri  to  its  sources  in  the 
Wind  River  Mountains,  has  been  accurately  surveyed  in  the  summer  of  1842,  by 
Lieutenant  Fremont,  of  the  United  States  army ;  whose  report  of  the  survey,  ac- 
companied by  a  large  and  beautiful  map,  and  several  views  of  scenery,  published 
by  order  of  the  Senate,  in  1843,  is  a  most  valuable  addition  to  our  knowledge  of 
the  geography  of  the  central  regions  of  the  continent 


GEOORAPHT    OF    OREGON. 


37 


with- 


ridge 

of  the 

er,  but 

re  was 

lolum- 

order 


in  the 
1842,  by 
vey,  ac- 
blished 
edge  of 


to  render  the  route  safe  and  comparatively  easy,  the  American 
government  should,  without  delay,  cause  fortified  posts  to  be 
established  on  the  Platte,  at  distances  of  about  two  hundred  miles 
apart,  to  serve  as  caravanserais  for  the  protection  and  refreshment 
of  travellers  and  emigrants. 

North  of  the  50th  parallel,  the  climate  is  more  moist ;  but  its 
extreme  coldness  renders  the  country  of  little  value  for  agriculture. 
The  only  part  at  which  any  settlement  has  been  attempted,  is  that 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Red  River  of  the  North,  where  about  five 
thousand  persons,  principally  half-breeds  and  Indians,  have  been 
established  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company ;  but  the  success  of  the 
enterprise  is  as  yet  doubtful.     This  whole  division  of  America  is 
drained  by  streams  entering  Hudson's  Bay  or  the  Arctic  Sea  ;  the 
principal  are  the  Bed  River  of  the  North,  the  Assinahoin,  and  the 
Snskntchou'ine,  all  emptying  into  Lake  Winnipeg,  which  communi- 
cates by  several  channels  with  Hudson's  Bay,  and  the  Mississippi 
or  ChurchiWs  River,  falling  directly  into  that  bay  ;  while  the  Arctic 
Sea  receives,  nearly  under  the  69th  parallel  of  latitude.  Backus  or 
the  great  Fish  Biver,  the  Coppermine  and  the  Mackenzie,  wiiich 
latter  carries  off  the  waters  from  a  territory  almost  equal  in  extent 
to  that  drained  by  the  Columbia.    The  regions  through  which  these 
rivers  yiass  are  generally  so  level  that  it  is  in  many  places  difficult  to 
trace  the  limits  of  the  tracts  from  which  the  waters  flow  into  the 
respective  streams  or  basins  :  they  contain  numerous  lakes,  some 
of  them  very  large,  which  are  nearly  all  connected  with  each  other, 
and  with  Hudson's  Bay  on  the  west,  and  the  Arctic  Sea  on  the 
north ;  and   the  head-waters  of  the  rivers  supplying  these  reser- 
voirs are  situated  in   the  vicinity  of  the  sources  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, or  those  of  the   Missouri,  or  of  the  Columbia,   or  of  the 
streams   falling  into  Lake  Superior.     The  rivers  above-named  are 
all  navigable  for  great  distances  by  boats,  and  they  thus  afford 
considerable  advantages  for  commercial  intercourse,  which  are  not 
neglected  by   the  British  traders ;    goods  being  now  transported 
across  the  continent  from  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  to  Hudson's 
Bay  or  to  Montreal,  and  vise  versa,  almost  entirely  by  water. 
The  principal  pass  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  north  of  the  43d  de- 
gree of  latitude,  through   which  al!  the  communications  between 
Canada  and  Hudson's  Bay  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Columbia  on 
the  other,  are  conducted,  h  that  near  the  53d  degree,  in  which 
the  northernmost  source  of  the  Columbia  and   the  westernmost 
of  the  Athabasca  are  situated,  as  already  mentioned. 


mi 


\mA 


m 


^vl:f 


RUSSIAN    AMERICA. 


Ilrjl'i 


Russia  claims,  as  already  stated,  in  virtue  of  the  discoveries  and 
settlements  of  her  subjects,  and  of  treaties  with  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  all  the  Pacific  coasts  and  islands  of  America 
north  of  the  parallel  of  54  degrees  40  minutes,  and  the  whole 
of  the  continent  west  of  the  141st  meridian  of  longitude  west 
from  Greenwich,  which  line  passes  through  Mount  Saint  Elias. 
This  power  also  claims  the  whole  Asiatic  coast  of  the  Pacific, 
north  of  the  51st  parallel,  and  all  the  islands  of  the  Kurile  group 
north  of  the  southernmost  point  of  one  of  them,  called  Urup,  in 
the  latitude  of  45  degrees  50  minutes. 

Of  the  interior  of  the  part  of  the  American  Continent  possessed 
by  Russia,  little  is  known.  Several  rivers  flow  from  it,  which 
have  been  traced  to  considerable  distances  ;  but  the  country  has 
not  been  generally  explored,  and  from  all  accounts,  it  does  not 
seem  to  merit  the  labor  and  expense  which  would  be  required  for 
that  purpose,  as  it  presents,  wherever  it  has  been  examined, 
notliing  but  mountains  of  rocks,  snow  and  ice.  The  coasts  of  the 
continent,  and  the  islands,  have  all  been  carefully  surveyed  ;  and, 
with  the  exception  of  those  on  the  Arctic  Sea,  very  little  remains 
to  bo  learned  about  their  geography.  Of  all  these  territories  only 
small  portions  of  some  of  the  islands  are  fit  for  agriculture,  or  for 
any  purpose  useful  to  man,  except  fishing  and  hunting,  for  which 
obj(?cts  exclusively  are  they  frequented  by  people  of  civilized 
nations. 

The  direction  and  use  of  all  these  islands  and  parts  of  the 
American  Continent,  was,  in  1779,  granted  by  the  emperor  of 
Russia,  for  twenty  years,  to  a  great  commercial  association,  en- 
titled the  Russian  American  Company,  whose  charter  has  been 
successively  renewed,  in  1819  and  1839,  for  the  same  length  of 
time,  in  each  case.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Kurile  and  Aleutian 
Archipelagoes,  and  of  the  large  island  of  Kodi<'ik  on  the  east  side 
of  l!je  Peninsula  of  Aliaska,  are  regarded  as  the  immediate  sub- 


m 


,,w 


GEOGRAPHY    OF    RUSSIAN    AMERICA. 


39 


iries  and 
d  States 
America 
e  whole 
ide  west 
lit  Elias. 
!  Pacific, 
le  group 
Unip,  in 

possessed 
t,  which 
intry  has 
does  not 
uired  for 
<amined, 
!ts  of  the 
2d ;  and, 
1  remains 
iries  only 
re,  or  for 
or  which 
civilized 


:s 


of  the 
peror  of 
tion,  en- 
las  been 
cngth  of 
Aleutian 
east  side 
iatc  sub- 


jects of  this  company  ;  in  the  service  of  which,  every  man  between 
the  ages  of  eighteen  and  fifty  years,  may  be  required  to  pass  at 
least  three  years.  The  natives  of  the  country  adjacent  to  the  two 
great  bays,  called  Cook's  Inlet  and  Prince  William's  Sound,  are 
also  under  the  control  of  the  company,  and  are  obliged  to  pay  an 
annual  tax  in  furs  and  skins,  though  they  are  not  compelled  to 
enter  the  regular  service.  All  the  other  aborigines  are  regarded 
as  independent,  except  that  they  are  not  allowed  to  trade  with 
any  other  people  than  those  of  the  Russian  American  Company. 
In  1836,  the  number  of  the  Russians  in  the  company's  territories, 
was  seven  hundred  and  thirty  ;  the  native  subjects  of  the  com- 
pany were  fourteen  hundred  and  forty-two  Creoles,  or  children  of 
Russian  fathers,  by  women  of  the  country ,  and  about  eleven 
thousand  aborigines  of  the  Kurile,  Aleutian  and  Kodiak  Islands. 
The  population  of  the  other  parts  of  these  dominions,  cannot  be 
ascertained,  but  it  must  necessarily  be  very  small  when  compared 
with  the  extent  of  the  surface. 

The  establishments  of  the  Russian  American  Company  are 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  objects  of  the  fur-trade.  They  consist 
of  towns,  forts,  and  factories,  or  trading  posts,  all  situated  on  the 
coasts  of  the  continent,  or  of  the  islands  south  of  the  64th 
parallel,  and  are  about  twenty-six  in  number.  The  furs  and  skins 
are  collected,  either  by  hunters  and  fishermen  in  the  regular  ser- 
vice of  the  company,  or  as  taxes  from  its  subjects,  or  by  trade 
with  the  independent  aborigines  ;  and  they  are  transported  in  the 
company's  vessels  from  the  principal  places  of  deposit  to  Petro- 
pawlowsk  in  Kamtchatka,  or  to  Ochotsk  in  Siberia,  or  by  special 
permission  of  the  Chinese  government,  to  Canton,  or  sometimes  to 
Europe :  the  supplies  for  the  establishments,  being  received  chiefly 
from  Europe  and  Asia,  by  the  same  vessels.  The  number  of 
vessels  belonging  to  the  company  in  1840  was  twelve,  measuring 
together  fifteen  hundred  and  sixty-five  tons. 

The  Russian  American  territories  are  divided  into  six  districts, 
each  of  which  is  under  the  direction  of  an  agent ;  and  they  are  all 
superintended  by  a  governor-general,  residing  at  Sitka,  the  capital 
of  these  possessions. 

The  District  of  Sitka  comprehends  all  the  coasts  of  the  conti- 
nent, south  and  east  of  Mount  Saint  Elias,  as  far  as  the  latitude  of 
54  degrees  40  minutes,  together  with  the  adjacent  islands  of  the 
north-west  Archipelago  north  of  the  same  parallel.  The  conti- 
nental coasts,  opposite  these  islands,  have,  however,  been  leased 
by  the  Russian  American  Company,  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, for  the  term  of  ten  years,  from  the  first  of  June,  1840,  in 
consideration  of  an  annual  payment  of  two  thousand  seal  skins  to 
the  former  body.     This  arrangement  was  made  in  consequence 


fc; 


ill 


m 

■ft:  '!l 

ill 

.  i 


ii 


■ill 


40 


GROGIIAPIIY    OF    RUSSIAN    AMERICA. 


I    !i    .!1 


I!  H' 


of  a  dispute  between  the  parties,  witli  regard  to  the  right  of  navi- 
gating the  river  Siikinc,  which  enters  the  sea  from  the  continent, 
in  the  latitude  of  56  degrees  5U  minutes,  and  is  said  to  be  naviga- 
ble to  a  great  distance  into  the  interior. 

The  northernmost  group  of  islands  of  the  north-west  Archipe- 
lago, thus  belonging  to  Russia,  comprises  six  large,  and  many 
small  islands,  separated  from  each  other  and  from  the  main  land, 
by  narrow  but  generally  navigable  channels.  The  large  islands 
are  —  the  Prince  of  IVaks's  Island,  extending  on  the  Pacific  from 
the  latitude  of  54  degrees  40  minutes,  to  that  of  56  degrees  '^5 
minutes,  and  the  Duke  of  York's  and  Rcvillagigedo  Island,  be- 
tween it  and  the  continent,  on  the  west  —  farther  north,  on  the 
open  ocean,  the  Islands  of  King  George  the  Third,  the  largest  and 
most  southern  of  which  is  called  Baranof^s  Island,  and  the  north- 
ern, Tchichagof's  Island  —  and  east  of  these  latter,  Admiralty 
Island,  Douglas  Island,  and  some  others  of  less  extent. 

Opposite  the  western  end  of  the  channel,  separating  Baranof's 
from  Tchichagof's  Island,  is  a  small  island,  consisting  of  a 
single  and  beautiful  conical  peak,  rising  from  the  ocean,  which 
received  from  its  Spanish  discoverers,  in  1775,  the  name  of  Mount 
San  Jacinto,  but  is  better  known  by  the  English  appellation  of 
Mount  Edgecumb;  a  narrow  passage,  called  Norfolk  »Souwrf,  separates 
it  from  Baranof's  Island,  on  the  shore  of  which  stands  Sitka  or 
New  Archangel,  the  capital  of  Russian  Americ<'\  This  is  a  small 
town  of  wooden  houses,  covered  mostly  with  iron,  protected,  or 
rather  overlooked  by  batteries,  and  inhabited  by  about  a  thou- 
sand persons,  of  whom  nearly  one  half  are  Russians,  the  major- 
ity of  the  others  being  Creoles.  Attached  to  the  establishment 
are  a  hospital,  a  ship-yard,  a  foundry,  and  shops  for  various  me- 
chanical employments.  Sitka,  moreover,  though  thus  remote  from 
all  civilized  countries,  contains  several  schools,  in  which  the  child- 
ren are  instructed  at  the  expense  of  the  company,  a  library  of  two 
thousand  volumes,  a  cabinet  of  natural  history,  and  an  observatory, 
in  which  are  the  instruments  most  necessary  for  astronomical  and 
magnetic  observations. 

The  District  of  Kodiak  comprises  all  the  coasts  from  the  north- 
west Archipelago  northward  and  westward  to  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  the  Peninsula  of  Aliaska,  and  the  adjacent  islands,  as  also 
a  portion  of  the  coast  of  the  Sea  of  Kamtchatka,  on  the  north-west 
side  of  Aliaska.  The  largest  island  is  Kodiak,  situated  near  the  east 
coast  of  Aliaska,  from  which  it  is  separated  by  the  Strait  of  Sche- 
likof;  on  its  north-east  side  is  St.  Pauls,  an  inconsiderable  place, 
formerly  the  capital  of  Russian  America.  North  of  Kodiak,  a  great 
arm  of  the  ocean,  called  by  the  English  Coo¥s  Inlet,  and  by  the 
Russians  the  GulJ  of  Kenny,  stretches  northwardly  into  the  con- 


Hi' 


OEOQRAPHY    OF    RUSSIAN    AMERICA. 


41 


north- 
iern  ex- 
as  also 
th-west 
the  east 
)f  Sche- 
2  place, 
a  great 
by  the 
ic  con- 


tinent from  the  latitude  of  59  degrees  to  that  of  61  degrees 
20  minutes  ;  east  of  which,  and  separated  from  it  by  a  peninsula, 
is  another  great  bay,  filled  with  islands,  called  Prince  U'lUiam's 
Sound  by  the  English,  and  the  Guff  of  Tschugatsch  by  the  Rus- 
sians. Each  of  these  bays  was  minutely  examined  by  Cook  in 
1778,  and  by  Vancouver  in  1794,  in  search  of  a  passage  leading  to 
the  Alantic ;  and  several  good  harbors  were  thus  found  in  them, 
on  which  the  Russians  have  formed  trading  establishments. 

About  a  hundred  miles  east  of  Prince  William's  Sound,  Mount 
Saint  Elias,  the  highest  peak  in  North  America,  rises  nearly 
eighteen  thousand  feet  in  perpendicular  elevation  from  the  shore 
of  the  Pacific,  under  the  parallel  of  61  degrees,  surrounded  by 
mountains,  also  of  great  height.  Farther  south-east  is  another 
stupendous  peak,  called  Mount  Fuiriveather ;  and  many  lofty  pin- 
nacles, all  volcanoes  or  of  volcanic  formation,  may  be  seen  from 
the  coasts  of  Prince  William's  Sound  and  Cook's  Inlet,  and  in  the 
Peninsula  of  Aliaska.  At  the  foot  of  Mount  Saint  Elias,  on  the 
east,  is  Admiralty  or  Bcring^s  Bay,  in  which  tlie  unfortunate  navi- 
gator, Bering,  is  believed  to  have  first  anchored  during  his  voyage 
from  Kamtchalka  to  America  in  1741.  On  the  western  side  of 
the  base  of  Mount  Saint  Elias  is  Comptroller's  Bay,  into  which 
empties  the  Copper  River,  the  only  large  stream  flowing  into  that 
part  of  the  Pacific. 

The  Northern  or  Michnelof  District,  includes  all  the  coasts  and 
islands  of  America  on  the  Sea  of  Kamtchatka,  north  of  Bristol 
Bay  ;  on  which,  however,  the  only  establishments  are  those  situated 
on  the  shores  of  the  great  Gulf  called  Nortotis  Sound.  The  prin- 
cipal post  is  Fort  Saint  Michael  on  the  south-east  side  of  Norton's 
Sound,  near  Stuart's  Island,  to  which  furs,  skins,  oil  and  ivory  are 
brought  by  the  Esquimaux  and  Tchukskies,  from  the  large  islands 
near  Bering's  Straits,  and  even  from  the  coasts  of  the  Arctic 
Sea.  From  this  part  of  the  American  coasts  several  expeditions 
have  been  recently  made  by  the  Russians  into  the  interior,  in 
which  two  large  rivers  have  been  discovered  and  traced  to  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  their  mouths ;  these  are  the  KwicJcpak, 
entering  the  Sea  of  Kamtchatka,  near  the  63d  degree  of  latitude, 
and  the  KusTcohwim,  falling  into  the  same  sea,  under  the  60th  par- 
allel. 

AliasJca  is  a  long  and  generally  narrow  peninsula,  stretching 
south-westward  from  the  continent,  which  it  joins  under  the  59th 
parallel,  to  the  latitude  of  541-2  degrees;  it  is  simply  a  chain 
of  volcanic  mountains,  running  through  the  Pacific.  About  its 
southern  extremity  on  the  east  is  the  small  group  of  the  Sciiuma- 
gin  Islands,  so  named  from  one  of  Bering's  crew,  who  died  there 
in  1741 ;  and  from  the  same  extremity,  as  if  in  continuation  of  the 
6 


11  ;■ 
I'll 


Vi 


m 


'■iM 

■A 


•  ■•■?.»  !l 


il 


4t 


GEOGRAPHY    or    RUSSIAN    AMERICA. 


n 


fi 


peninsula,  a  line  of  volcanic  islands  forming  the  Aleutian  Archi- 
pelago, stretches  westward  across  the  ocean,  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
opposite  Asiatic  Peninsula  of  Knmtchaika. 

The  District  of  Vnnlashha  includes  the  westernmost  of  the 
Aleutian,  called  the  Fox  Islands,  amon<^  which  are  Unimak,  Una' 
Inshka  and  UmnaJc,  the  largest  of  the  Archipelago ;  as  also  the 
Pribulow  Islands,  lying  a  little  farther  north,  on  the  west  side  of 
Aliaska.  The  principal  settlement  of  the  Russians  is  lllilluk,  on 
the  bay  of  Samagoondha,  on  the  north-easl  side  of  Unalashka, 
which  is  nlso  the  residence  of  a  bishop  of  the  Greek  church. 

The  District  of  Atcha  comprises  the  remainder  of  the  Aleutian 
Islands,  which  are  all  small,  and  are  divided  into  three  groups ; 
tlio  Rat,  the  Andreanowsky,  and  the  Commodore  Islands.  The 
westernmost  of  the  last  named  group,  near  the  coast  of  Kamt- 
chatka,  bears  the  name  of  Bering's  Isle,  in  commemoration  of 
the  shipwreck  and  death  of  Bering,  which  took  place  there  in  the 
winter  of  1741,  while  he  was  on  his  return  from  the  American 
coast. 

The  Sea  of  Kamtchatka  or  Bering^s  Sea,  is  the  division  of  the 
Pacific,  extending  from  the  Aleutian  Islands,  northward  to  Bering's 
Strait ;  it  contains  many  islands,  some  of  them  large,  but  all  un- 
inhabitable. Bering's  Strait,  fifty-one  miles  in  width,  between 
Ca]pc  Prince  of  Wales,  the  north-western  extremity  of  America, 
and  East  Cape  or  Tchukotskoi  Boss,  the  north-easternmost  point 
of  Asia,  in  latitude  of  65  1-2  degrees,  forms  the  only  northern 
communication  between  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  and  those  of  the 
Arctic  Sea ;  and  through  it,  consequently,  must  pass  any  vessel 
which  may  succeed  in  effecting  a  northern  voyage  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific,  or  vice  versa 

The  part  of  Asia  west  of  the  Sea  of  Kamtchatka,  like  that  of 
America  on  its  eastern  side,  is  a  waste  of  rocks,  covered  almost 
always  with  snow  ;  and  is  traversed  by  a  great  chain  ot  volcanic 
mountains,  extending  southward,  through  the  sea,  to  the  51st  par- 
allel, and  thus  forming  the  peninsula  of  Kamtchatka.  The  only 
place  in  Kamtchatka,  worthy  of  notice  here,  is  Petropatvloivsk  or 
Petropaulski,  or  the  Harbor  of  Peter  and  Paul,  situated  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Bay  of  Avatscha,  which  joins  the  Pacific  in  the 
latitude  of  53  degrees  58  minutes  ;  it  is  a  small  town,  containing 
not  more  than  a  thousand  inhabitants.  The  part  of  the  sea  west 
of  Kamtchatka,  is  called  the  Gulf  of  Ochotsk ;  at  its  north-eastern 
extremity,  stands  Ochotsk,  another  small  town,  which  shares  with 
Petropawlowsk,  the  trade  of  the  Russian  American  coasts.  South- 
ward from  Kamtchatka,  are  the  Kurile  Islands,  and  south  of  these 
the  Japan  Islands,  all  parts  of  the  same  volcanic  system  of  moun- 
tains. 


rr!; 


HISTOEY 


or 


OREGON    AND    CALIFORNIA, 


AND 


THE  OTHER  COUNTRIES 


ON   THE 


ri 


'Ml 


NORTH-WEST  COAST  OF  NORTH  AMERICA. 


m] 


ifr 


l'^ 


1:1. 


HISTORY 


or 


OREGON    ANT)    CALIFORNIA, 

ETC. 


CHAPTER    I. 
To  1513. 

I'reliininary  Observations — Kft'orfs  of  Mi  Spaninrda  to  discover  Western  Passnfrng 
Id  liuliu — Succt'Hsivo  Discovorii's  o."  tlio  West  1  idles,  tlie  North  Ainericuu 
Continent,  tlio  Eastern  I'lissnge  to  I;idia,  Ilrr'il,  iin('  iho  Pacific  Ocean  —  Search 
for  a  naviifable  Fassiifjo  Cfmnectinj^f  the  Atlantic  nnu  the  Pacific  Or  una  —  Sup- 
posed Discuivery  of  such  a  Passnsje,  cuiled  the  ^  •ait  of  .■!:,  ■: — Discovery  of 
Magellan's  Strait  and  the  Western  Passage  t:i  India — Coi  est  of  Mexico  by 
Cortes,  who  endeavors  to  discover  new  Countries  farther  c 'in-west  —  Voyages 
of  Maldonado,  llurtado  de  Mendo/.a,  Grijalva,  and  Becon  i — Discover'  of  Cali- 
fornia—  Expedition  of  Cortes  to  California—  ;  ♦  nded  Discover!  .  of  Friar 
Marcos  de  Niza — Voyages  of  UUoa,  Alarcoi^,  anv  Cabrillo — Expeditions  f 
(^oronado  and  Soto  —  The  Spaniards  desist  from  vhcir  htforts  to  explore  the  North 
West  Coasts  of  America. 

The  western  coasts  of  North  America  were  first  explored  by  the 
Spaniards,  in  the  sixteenth  century.  In  order  to  convey  a  clear  idea 
of  the  circumstances  which  led  to  their  discovery,  as  well  as  of  the 
claims  and  pretensions  based  upon  it,  a  general  view  will  be  here 
presented  of  the  proceedin<,'s  and  objects  of  Europeans  with  regard  to 
the  Now  World,  from  the  period  v.  hen  its  existence  was  ascertained, 
to  that  in  which  the  exploration  of  its  north-west  coasts  was  begun. 

The  islands  found  by  Colui  ib'js,  in  his  voyage  across  the  Atlantic 
in  149"2,  were  supposed  to  bu  .-.iuated  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Asia,  the  eastern  limits  of  which  were  then  unknown  ;  and  their  dis- 
covery was  the  result  of  onfleavors  to  reach,  by  a  western  course,  the 
shores  of  India,  from  whicii  Europe  chiefly  derived  its  gold,  silks,  pre- 
cious stones,  and  spices,  and  tliose  of  China  and  Japan,  of  the  wealth 
of  which  empires  vague  accounts  had  been  brought  by  travellers. 

With  the  same  objects  in  view,  the  Portuguese  had  been  long 
engaged  in  exploring  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Africa  southward  and 
eastward,  in  search  of  some  channel  or  sea,  by  which  their  ships 


I 

I 


f   (\ 


(!'. 


Vi    if:. 


46 


TREATY    OF    PARTITION    OF    THE    OCEAN. 


[1494. 


might  enter  the  Indian  Ocean  ;  being  encouraged  in  their  exertions 
by  the  Bull  of  Pope  Nicholas  V.,  issued  in  1454,  assuring  to  them 
the  exclusive  rights  of  navigation,  trade,  fishery,  and  conquest,  in  all 
seas  and  countries  which  they  niigiit  find  in  that  course,  not  before 
occupied  by  a  Christian  prince  or  people.  They  had,  however,  not 
reached  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa  when  Columbus  returned 
from  his  first  voyage  across  the  Atlantic ;  and,  immediately  after- 
wards, the  united  Spanish  sovereigns  procured  from  Pope  Alex- 
ander VI.  Bulls,  granting  to  thein  and  their  successors,  forever, 
exclusive  privileges  with  regard  to  the  seas  and  countries  which 
might  be  found  by  navigating  towards  the  west,  similar  to  those 
conferred  on  the  Portuguese,  as  to  seas  and  countries  east  of  the 
Atlantic. 

Upon  these  extraordinary  commissions,  as  bases,  was  founded  the 
celebrated  Treaty  of  Partition  of  the  Ocean,  concluded  at  Torde- 
sillas,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1494,  between  the  sovereigns  of  Spain 
and  the  king  of  Portugal,  then  the  greatest  maritime  powers  of 
Europe.  By  this  treaty,  the  Portuguese  were  to  enjoy  and  possess 
the  exclusive  rights  of  discovery,  trade,  conquest,  and  dominion,  in 
all  the  seas  and  territories  not  previously  belonging  to  a  Christian 
prince  or  people,  east  of  a  meridian  line  passing  three  hundred  and 
seventy  leagues  west  of  the  Cape  Verd  Islands ;  and  the  Spaniards 
were  to  possess  the  same  rights,  in  all  seas  and  all  pagan  lands 
west  of  that  line ;  no  provision  being  made  for  the  contingency 
of  the  meeting  of  the  parties  proceeding  in  these  opposite  direc- 
tions. I'he  two  nations  having  thus,  under  the  guaranty  of  the 
highest  authority  recognized  in  Europe,  settled  the  conditions  on 
which  they  were  to  appropriate  to  themselves,  respectively,  nearly 
all  the  sea  and  nearly  all  the  land  on  the  globe,  without  regard  for 
the  wishes  or  claims  of  any  other  people,  each  continued  its  search 
for  a  navigable  passage  to  India,  generally,  though  not  always, 
within  the  limits  assigned  to  it. 

In  this  search  the  Portuguese  were  soon  successful ;  for,  in  1499= 
they  sailed  around  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa,  to  India,  where 
they  established  their  dominion  or  their  influence  over  many  of 
those  regions.  They  also,  about  the  same  time,  obtained  possession 
of  Bray.il,  the  coasts  of  which  were  found  to  extend  east  of  the 
meridian  of  partition,  to  the  great  regret  and  constant  annoyance 
of  the  Spaniards,  who  had  hoped,  by  the  treaty  of  1494,  to  secure 
to  themselves  the  exclusive  sovereignty  of  all  the  countries  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Atlantic. 


;i:'4jl 


1500.] 


THE    STRAIT    OF    ANIAN. 


47 


The  English,  however,  disregarding  the  Papal  prohibitions,  imme- 
diately entered  the  career  of  discovery  in  the  west ;  and,  under  their 
flag,  John  Cabot,  first  of  all  Europeans,  reached  the  American  conti- 
nent in  1497.  They  were  soon  followed  by  the  French,  who,  during 
the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  made  numerous  expeditions 
across  the  Atlantic  ;  and  the  Portuguese,  notwithstanding  the  restric- 
tions of  the  treaty  of  partition,  also  endeavored  to  find  a  passage  to 
India  in  the  same  direction.  It  was,  indeed,  long  believed  that 
Gaspar  Cortereal,  a  Portuguese  navigator,  who  explored  the  coasts 
of  Labrador  in  1499  and  1500,  had  actually  sailed  through  a  narrow 
channel,  named  by  him  the  Strait  of  Anian,*  westward  from  the 
Atlantic,  nearly  in  the  course  of  the  58th  parallel  of  latitude,  into 
another  great  sea,  communicating  with  the  Indian  Ocean.  This 
channel  may  have  been  the  same,  now  called  IlmJson^s  Strait,  con- 
necting the  Atlantic  with  Hudson's  Bay,  the  discovery  of  which  is 
generally  attributed  to  Sebastian  Cabot ;  it  was  certainly  known  as 
the  Strait  of  Labrador  long  before  its  entrance  by  the  navigator 
whose  name  it  bears.  The  belief  in  the  existence  of  such  a  north' 
west  passage  to  India,  joining  the  Atlantic  in  the  position  assigned 
to  the  mouth  of  Cortereal's  Strait  of  Anian,  caused  many  voyages 
to  be  made  to  the  coasts  of  northern  America,  on  both  sides,  during 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  and  many  false  reports  to 
be  circulated  of  the  discovery  ol  the  desired  channel ;  the  efiects  of 
which  reports,  in  promoting  the  exploration  of  those  coasts,  will 
be  hereafter  shown. 


*  "  It  is  statod  in  several  collections  of  voyages,  that  the  name  or^ninn  was  given 
to  the  strait  supposed  to  have  been  discovered  by  Gaspar  Cortereal,  in  honor  of  two 
brothers,  who  accompanied  him  ;  but  there  are  no  grounds  for  such  a  supposition.  *  * 
In  the  earliest  maps,  .^nia  is  marked  as  tlie  name  of  the  nortii-westerniuost  part  of 
Ani'-rica.  ^ni,  in  the  Japanese  language,  is  said  to  signify  brother  ;  hence,  probably, 
the  mistake."  (Chronological  History  of  V^oyages  in  th(!  Arctic  Regions,  by  John 
Barrow,  page  45.)  —  In  an  article  on  tlie  subject  of  a  north-west  passage,  in  the 
London  Quarterly  Review  for  October,  18IG,  supposed  to  have  Iwen  written  by 
Harrow,  it  is  asserted  that  Cortereal  "  named  the  Strait  of  Anian,  not  in  honor 
of  two  brothers  who  accompanied  him,  but  because  he.  deemed  it  to  be  the  eastern 
crtremity  of  a  strait  tchose  western  end,  opening  into  the  Pocijie,  had  already  received 
that  name."  Tiie  value  of  this  assertion  may  be  estimated  from  the  fact,  that 
the  ocean  on  the  tcestern  side  of  Jlmerica  teas  not  discovered  by  Europeans  until 
thirteen  years  after  Cortereal's  voyage  and  death.  The  review  abounds  in  similar 
errors. 

Many  of  the  most  important  errors  in  Barrow's  Chronological  History  have  been 
exposed  by  Mr.  R.  iiiddle,  in  his  admirable  Memoir  of  Sebastian  Cabot,  to  which  tlie 
reader  is  referred  for  the  most  e.xact  accounts,  so  far  as  they  can  be  obtained,  of  these 
early  voyages  to  the  north-west  coasts  of  tlie  Atlantic.  A  concise  and  clear  view  of 
the  results  of  these  voyages  will  be  found  in  tlie  first  chapter  of  Bancroft's  History 
of  the  United  States. 


I 


3i  - 


if 


48 


DISCOVERY    OF    THE    PACIFIC    OCEAN. 


[1513. 


The  Spaniards  were,  in  the  mean  time,  assiduously  engaged  in 
planting  colonies  in  the  countries  newly  fou.id  by  them  beyond  tlie 
Atlantic,  to  which  they  gave  the  collective  name  of  West  Indies,* 
and  in  exploring  the  coasts  in  the  vicinity  of  the  islands  first  dis- 
covered, which  were  soon  ascertained  to  be  the  borders  of  a  vast 
continent.  How  far  south  this  continent  extended,  and  whether  it 
was  united,  in  the  north,  with  Asia,  or  with  the  territories  seen  in  that 
direction  by  the  English  and  the  Portuguese,  remained  to  bo  deter- 
mined ;  and,  with  those  objects,  the  Spaniards  persevered  in  their 
examinations,  in  which  they  were,  moreover,  encouraged  by  the 
constant  assurances  of  the  natives  of  the  coasts  and  islands, 
respecting  the  existence  of  a  great  sea,  and  rich  and  powerful 
nations,  towards  the  setting  sun. 

In  1513,  this  great  sea  was  discovered,  near  the  spot  where 
Panama  now  stands,  by  Vasco  Nunez  de  Balboa,  the  governor  of 
the  Spanish  colony  of  Darien.  It  was  naturally  supposed  to  be 
the  Southern  Ocean,  which  bathed  the  shores  of  India ;  and,  as  its 
proximity  to  the  Atlantic  was  at  the  same  time  ascertained,  encour- 
agement was  afforded  for  the  hope  that  the  two  great  waters  would 
be  found  connected  in  a  position  the  most  favorable  for  navigation 
between  Europe  and  Asia.  The  examinations  of  the  Spaniards 
were,  in  consequence,  directed  particularly  to  the  coasts  of  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien,  and  were  conducted  with  great  zeal  and  perse- 
verance, until  the  entire  separation  of  the  two  oceans  by  land,  in 
that  quarter,  had  been  proved.  These  researches  were,  however, 
also  continued  both  north  and  south  of  the  isthmus,  until,  at  length, 
in  1520,  Fernando  Magalhaens,  or  Magellan,  a  Portuguese,  in  the 
naval  service  of  Spain,  discovered  and  sailed  through  the  strait  now 
bearing  his  name,  into  the  sea  found  by  Balboa,  over  which  he 
pursued  his  voyage  westward  to  India. 

The  great  geographical  question,  as  to  the  circumnavigation  of 
the  globe,  was  thus  solved,  though  not  in  a  manner  entirely  satisfac- 
tory to  the  Spaniards.     The  Strait  of  Magellan  was  intricate,  and 


'jf^  ^  I 


*  Tf  •  name  America  was  first  applied  to  Brazil  about  the  year  1508,  either  by 
Vespucci  himself,  or  by  Waldseemuller,  a  schoolmaster  of  the  Vosges,  (better  known 
by  his  assumed  appellation  of  Hylacomytus,)  and  was  afterwards  extended  to  tho 
whole  western  continent.  The  Spaniards,  however,  carefully  avoided  the  use  of  it 
in  all  their  official  documents  and  histories,  in  not  one  of  which,  anterior  to  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  can  it  be  found.  It  was,  in  fact,  a  rule  of  Spanish  policy 
never  to  allow  the  names  of  individuals,  except  of  saints,  to  be  ap])lii'd  to  places  in 
their  dominions.  We  look  in  vain,  on  the  maps  of  Spanish  America,  for  memorials 
of  Columbus,  of  Cortes,  of  Pizarro,  and  even  of  the  royal  Ferdinands,  Charles..  3,  or 
Philips;  while  the  whole  calendar  of  saints  is  e.xhausted  on  every  province 


1518.] 


THE    SPANIARDS    AND    PORTUGUESE    IN    INDIA. 


49 


the  passage  through  it  was  attended  with  great  difficulties  and 
dangers ;  besides  which,  it  was  itself  almost  as  far  from  Europe  as 
India  by  the  eastern  route.  Other  and  more  direct  channels  of 
communication  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Southern  Ocean  might, 
inooed.  be  discovered :  but  the  latter  sea  was  found  to  be  infinitely 
wider  than  had  been  supposed  ;  and,  although  the  part  of  it  crossed 
by  Magellan  was  so  little  disturbed  by  storms  that  he  was  induced 
to  name  it  the  Pacific  Ocean,  yet  he  also  observed  timt  the  winds 
blew  over  it  invariably  from  eastern  points.  These  circumstances 
depressed  the  hopes  of  the  Spaniards  with  respect  to  the  establish- 
ment of  their  power  in  Southern  Asia,  though  they  continued  their 
expeditions  to  that  part  of  the  world  by  way  of  Magellan's  Strait, 
and  their  search  for  new  passages  into  the  Pacific.  Their  expedi- 
tions to  India  brought  them  into  collision  with  the  Portuguese,* 
who  had  already  made  several  settlements  in  the  Molucca  Islands, 
and  had  obtained  from  the  Chinese,  in  1518,  the  possession,  under 
certain  qualifications,  of  the  important  port  of  Macao,  near  Canton  ; 
and  many  bloody  conflicts  took  place,  in  consequence,  between  the 
subjects  of  those  nations,  in  that  distant  quarter  of  the  world,  as 
well  as  many  angry  disputes  between  their  governments,  before  the 
quest'ons  of  right  at  issue  could  be  settled. 

In  the  mean  time,  other  events  occurred,  which  consoled  the 
Spaniards  for  their  disappointments  with  regard  to  India,  and 
caused  them  to  direct  their  attention  more  particularly  to  the 
New    World. 

Before  the  period  of  the  departure  of  Magellan  on  his  expedi- 
tion, the  Spaniards  had,  in  fact,  derived  from  their  discoveries 
beyond  the  Atlantic  but  few  of  the  advantages  which  they  anti- 
cipated.     They   had    found    and    taken    possession    of  countries 


i 


'm 


4 


■■    ;:^;M 


lion    of 

itisfac- 

Ite,  and 


*  Spain  claimed  the  exclusive  navigation,  trade,  and  conquest,  westward,  to  the 
extremity  of  the  peninsula  of  Malacca,  so  iis  to  include  all  the  Molucca  Islands  and 
China ;  while  the  Portuguese  insisted  on  exercising  the  same  privileges,  without 
competition,  eastward  as  far  as  tiie  Ladrone  Islands ;  each  on  the  ground  that  the 
meridian  of  partition,  settled  with  regard  to  tlie  Atlantic,  in  1494,  would,  if  continued 
on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  pass  in  such  a  manner  as  to  place  the  portions  claimed 
by  itself  within  its  own  hemisphere.  The  question  was  discussed  between  the  two 
courts  directly,  and  by  their  commissioners  who  met  at  Badajos  in  1523,  but  without 
arriving  at  any  definite  arrangement.  At  length,  on  the  2iid  of  April,  15251,  a  treaty 
was  concluded  at  Saragossa,  by  the  terms  of  which  the  king  of  Spain  sold  all  his  rights 
to  the  Moluccas  to  the  king  of  Portugal  for  350,000  ducats  of  gold,  ($3,080,000,) 
with  the  proviso  that  tiie  latter  might,  by  repaying  the  sum,  be  at  liberty  again  to 
urge  those  rights.  The  sum  was  never  repaid,  and  Spain  did  not  again  claim  the 
islands ;  though,  for  a  long  period  afterwards,  the  Spanish  empire  was  represented 
on  Spanish  maps  as  extending  westward  to  the  extremity  of  Malacca. 

7 


M 


50 


MEXICO    CONQUERED   BY   THE    SPANIAKDS. 


[1522. 


I              -A 
II         


extensive,  rich  in  mines,  productive  in  soil,  and  delightful  in 
climate,  but  uncultivated,  ond  thinly  peopled  by  savages,  who 
could  neither  by  gentle  nor  by  violent  means  be  induced  to  labor 
regularly  for  others  or  for  themselves;  and,  although  the  want 
of  a  working  population  was  in  part  supplied  by  the  introduction 
of  negro  slaves  from  Africa,  there  was  little  prospect  that  Spain 
would  ever  be  much  benefited  by  these  distant  colonics.  While 
Magellan's  ships  were  on  their  western  route  to  India,  however, 
the  wealthy  and  powerful  empire  of  Mexico,  which  had  been 
discovered  in  1518  by  a  party  of  Spaniards  from  Cuba,  was 
conquered  by  Hernando  Cortes;  and  Spain  immediately  became 
the  richest  nation  of  Europe.  The  reports  of  the  brilliant  results 
of  this  conquest  drew  to  the  West  Indies  crowds  of  adventurers, 
all  eager  to  acquire  wealth  and  renown  by  similar  means ;  who, 
uniting  in  bands,  under  daring  and  experienced  captains,  ranged 
through  both  the  western  continents,  seeking  mines  of  precious 
metals  to  work,  or  rich  nations  to  plunder.  In  this  manner 
Peru  was  subjugated  by  Pizarro  and  his  followers  before  1535; 
the  other  expeHit^ons  were  fruitless,  as  respects  the  principal 
objects  in  view,  while,  in  the  course  of  them,  many  distant  shores 
and  interior  regions  were  explored,  which  would  otherwise,  perhaps, 
not  have  been  visited  for  centuries.  The  acts  of  these  demon 
heroes  are  recorded  with  minuteness  in  the  stirring  pages  of  the 
chronicles  of  their  day ;  and  curious  narratives  of  several  of  their 
expeditions,  written  by  persons  engaged  in  them,  have  been  pre- 
served by  the  assiduity  of  Spanish,  Italian,  English,  and  Dutch 
collectors  of  historical  tracts. 

The  desire  to  discover  new  passages  of  communication  for  vessels 
between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  Oceans,  was  also  a  strong 
motive  for  the  expeditions  of  the  Spaniards  along  the  coasts  of  the 
New  World ;  and  no  one  pursued  this  search  with  more  zeal  and 
perseverance  than  Hernando  Cortes.  Scarcely  had  he  established 
the  authority  of  his  sovereign  in  Mexico,  than  he  commenced  the 
exploration  of  the  adjoining  seas  and  countries,  with  that  object, 
as  well  as  with  the  hope  of  finding  other  rich  nations  to  subdue  ; 
and  in  such  enterprises  he  spent  a  great  portion  of  his  time  and 
resources,  during  his  residence  in  America.  In  prosecution  of  his 
plans,  chiefly,  the  long  and  in  most  places  narrow  territory, 
connecting  Mexico  with  the  southern  continent,  was  carefully 
examined,  until  it  had  been  ascertained  that  the  two  seas  were 
separated  by  land  throughout  the  whole  extent.     He,  at  the  same 


1528.] 


PLANS  OF  CORTES  FOR  FURTHER  CONQUESTS. 


51 


the 
and 
ished 
the 
ibject, 
)due  ; 
!  and 
)f  his 
ritory, 
^efuUy 
were 
same 


time,  employed  vessels  in  surveying  the  coasts  of  the  Mexican  Gulf, 
and  those  of  the  Atlantic,  farther  north  ;  and  he  built  others  on  the 
Pacific  side,  for  similar  purposes,  two  of  which  he  sent,  as  early  as 
1526,  to  the  East  Indies,  in  aid  of  the  armaments  despatched  thither 
from  Spain,  under  Loyasa.* 

The  first  expedition  made  by  the  Spaniards  along  the  Pacific 
coasts,  westward  from  Mexico,  was  conducted  by  Pedro  Nunez 
Maldonado,  one  of  the  officers  of  Cortes,  who  sailed  from  the 
mouth  of  the  River  of  Zacatula  in  July,  1528,  and  passed  nearly  six 
months  in  surveying  the  shores  between  that  point  and  the  mouth 
of  the  River  of  Santiago,  about  a  hundred  leagues  farther  north- 
west. The  territory  of  which  this  coast  formed  the  southern  border 
was  then  called  Xalisco ;  it  was  entirely  unknown  to  the  Europeans, 
and  was  inhabited  by  fierce  tribes  of  savages,  who  had  never  been 
subdued  by  the  Mexicans.  Maldonado  brought  back  flattering 
accounts  of  its  fertility,  and  of  the  abundance  of  precious  metals 
in  its  interior,  which  did  not  fail  to  excite  tha  attention  of  his 
employer,  as  well  as  of  others  among  their  countrymen. 

Cortts  was  at  that  time  in  Spain,  whither  he  had  gone  in  1528, 
chiefly  with  the  object  of  obtaining  some  more  definite  recognition 
of  his  powers  and  rights  in  the  New  World  tlian  had  been  hitherto 
granted.  He  was  received  at  Madrid  with  *.he  most  signal  honors 
by  his  sovereign,  the  celebrated  emperor  Charles  V. ;  and,  on  his 
return  to  Mexico,  he  carried  with  him  patents,  confirming  him 
as  captain-general  of  that  country,  then  called  New  Spain,  and 
creating  him  a  grandee  of  Castile,  with  the  title  of  Marquis  of  the 
Valley  of  Oaxaca  ;  to  which  was  attached  the  possession  of  vast  tracts 
of  country  in  America,  including  the  port  of  Tehuantepec,  on  the 
Pacific.  He  also  procured  from  the  emperor  a  capitulation,  or 
charter,  empowering  him  to  discover  and  conquer  any  islands  in  the 

*  The  accounts  of  the  early  Spanish  expeditions  of  discovery  on  the  North  Pacific 
side  of  America,  contained  in  tlie  present  chapter,  are  derived  from  —  the  publislied 
letters  of  Corcts,  and  a  number  of  letters  and  reports  from  him  and  other  Spanish 
commanders,  hitherto  unpublished,  copies  of  which,  made  from  the  originals  in 
Madrid,  were  kindly  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  writer  by  W.  H.  I'rescott,  of 
Boston,  the  accomplished  author  of  the  Histories  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  of 
the  Conquest  of  Mexico  —  the  Historia  General  de  las  Indias,  by  Herrera  —  the 
Crnnica  de  Nueva  EspaHa,  by  Gomara  —  the  Historia  de  la  Conquista  de  Mexico, 
by  Bernal  Dias  —  the  Raccolte  de  Viaggi,  by  Ramusio  —  the  Collection  of  Voyages 
and  Discoveries,  by  Hakluyt  —  the  History  of  Voyages  in  the  Pacific,  by  Burney  — 
and  the  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  the  Voyage  made,  in  171)2,  by  Captains 
Galiano  and  Valdcs,  in  the  Spanish  schooners  Sutil  and  Mexicana,  published  at 
Madrid,  by  order  of  the  government,  in  1802,  to  which  references  will  also  be  fre- 
quently made  in  the  succeeding  chapters. 


If 


M 


m 


m 


'V:'.:\W. 


i 


I  J' 


NUNO    DE    GUZMAN. 


[1530. 


1  !' 


Pacific,  or  other  countries  west  of  Mexico,  not  within  the  limits 
assigned  to  any  other  Spanish  governor ;  of  which  countries  he  and 
his  heirs  forever  were  to  enjoy  the  government,  and  one  twelfth  of 
all  the  precious  metals,  pearls,  and  other  advantages  therefrom 
accruing,  on  condition  of  their  treating  the  natives  with  kindness, 
and  endeavoring  to  convert  them  to  tiie  Christian  faith.  The  politic 
Charles  did  not,  however,  intrust  such  extensive  powers  to  one  so 
capable  and  ambitious  as  Cortes,  without  at  the  same  time  providing 
certain  checks,  by  means  of  which  the  conqueror  of  Mexico  might 
be  effectually  prevented  from  using  his  faculties  for  any  otiier 
ends  than  enlarging  the  dominions  of  the  crown  of  Castile.  The 
expenses  of  all  his  expeditions  were  to  be  borne  by  himself;  and 
he  could  do  little,  if  any  thing,  without  the  assent  of  the  Audiencia, 
or  Royal  Court  and  Board  of  Administration,  established  at  Mexico, 
the  members  of  which  were  chosen  from  among  his  most  bitter 
enemies. 

The  only  governor  in  the  New  World  with  whose  claims  Cortes 
might  have  been  supposed  to  interfere,  by  expeditions  westward 
from  Mexico,  was  Nuno  de  Guzman,  the  president  of  the  Audiencia, 
who  had  obtained  from  the  emperor  the  government  of  Panuco, 
the  country  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  surrounding  the  spot  now 
occupied  by  the  town  of  Tampico,  and  also  that  of  Xalisco,  of 
which  he  had  received  accounts  from  Maldonado  and  other  adven- 
turers. This  person,  one  of  the  same  stamp  with  Pizarro  and 
Davila,  had  been  assiduously  engaged  in  undermining  the  authority 
and  influence  of  Cortes ;  and  no  sooner  did  he  learn  that  his  rival 
was  returning  to  Mexico  as  captain-general,  than  he  assembled  all 
the  troops  under  his  command  in  the  capital,  and  marched  for 
Xalisco,  where  he  remained  many  years,  subduing  the  country,  and 
exterminating  its  aboriginal  inhabitants. 

Cortes  thus,  on  his  arrival  in  Mexico  in  July,  1530,  found  himself 
deprived  of  the  means  not  only  of  making  expeditions  of  discov- 
ery, but  also  of  maintaining  his  authority  in  the  kingdom  ;  and  he 
was  obliged  to  wait  two  years  before  he  could  send  a  single  vessel 
out  on  the  Pacific.  At  length,  by  the  middle  of  the  year  1532,  he 
had  two  ships  ready  for  sea,  which  he  determined  to  despatch  on  an 
exploratory  voyage,  along  the  western  coast,  whilst  the  others  were 
in  progress  of  construction  at  Tehuantepec. 

At  that  period,  the  whole  eastern  coast  of  the  American  continent 
had  been  explored,  but  imperfectly  by  European  navigators ;  though 
no  part  of  the  interior,  north  of  Mexico  and  the  countries  in  its 


1532.] 


UNCERTAINTY  OF  ACCOUNTS  OF  OLD  VOYAGES. 


53 


immediate  vicinity,  was  known.  The  northernmost  points  occupied 
by  the  Spaniards  were,  —  on  the  Atlantic  side,  Panuco,  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  Mexican  Gulf,  —  and,  on  the  Pacific  side,  Culiacan,  which 
was  founded  by  Nuno  de  Guzman,  in  1530,  at  the  entrance  of  the 
Gulf  of  California.  Beyond  Culiacan,  towards  the  north  and  the 
west,  the  lands  and  the  seas  were  entirely  unexplored  ;  and  between 
that  place  and  the  civilized  portion  of  Mexico,  extended  a  wide 
space  of  uncultivated  country,  including  Xalisco,  which  was  called, 
by  the  Spaniards,  New  Galicia.  The  ports  occupied  by  the  Span- 
iards on  the  Pacific  side  of  Mexico,  were  Tehuantepec,  the  most 
eastern,  at  which  Cortes  had  his  arsenals  and  ship-yards ;  Acapulco, 
the  principal  place  of  trade,  and  ti.e  nearest  to  tiie  capital;  and 
Zacatula,  and  Aguatlan,  on  the  confines  of  Xalisco,  beyond  which 
the  coasts  wrre  little  known. 

Before  entering  upon  the  history  of  the  Spanish  discoveries  on 
the  North  Pacific  side  of  America,  it  should  be  observed,  that  the 
accounts  of  these  and  other  expeditions  by  sea,  made  at  that  period, 
which  have  descended  to  us,  are  very  obscure  and  inexact,  especially 
as  regards  geogniphical  positions ;  so  that  it  is  generally  difficult, 
and  often  impossible,  to  identify  places  by  means  of  the  descriptions 
given  in  them.  This  arises  partly  from  the  circumstance,  that  the 
accounts  were  nearly  all  written  by  priests,  clerks,  or  other  persons 
unacquainted  with  naval  niatters,  who  paid  little  attention  to  lati- 
tudes, longitudes,  courses,  and  bearings,  and  were  unable  to  record 
them  properly ;  and  partly  from  the  imperfection  of  tiie  instruments 
then  employed  to  determine  the  altitudes  and  relative  distances  of 
the  heavenly  bodies,  which,  even  on  land,  and  under  the  most  favor- 
able conditions  of  the  atmosphei  ^,  gave  results  far  from  accurate, 
and  were  entirely  useless  in  a  vessel  on  a  re  "gh  sea,  or  in  cloudy 
weather.  This  uncertainty  as  to  the  positions  of  j^laces  necessarily 
leads  to  confusion  respecting  their  names ;  and  we  accordingly  find, 
in  the  account  of  each  of  these  voyages  along  the  same  portion  of  the 
coast,  a  nomenclature  of  capes,  bays,  and  islands,  almost  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  that  contained  in  the  narratives  of  all  the  other  voyages. 

The  expedition  of  discovery,  made,  by  order  of  Cortes,  to  the 
coasts  north-west  of  Mexico,  in  153"2,  was  conducted  by  his  kins- 
man, Diego  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  who  sailed  from  Tehuantepec  in 
July  of  that  year,  with  two  vessels,  one  commanded  by  himself,  the 
other  by  Juan  de  Mazuela.  In  the  instructions  drawn  up  by  Cortes, 
of  which  a  copy  has  been  preserved,  Mendoza  was  directed  to  sail 
within  sight  of  the  coast,  and,  at  all  convenient  places,  to  land,  and 


i'l 


':f1l 


■1  Li 

4 


•ir  ^S, 


■  i\ 


# 


,:   ll 


■t  ;l 
I 


n 
m 


mI: 


hi 


,J 


54 


VOYAGES    OF    HENDOZA,    GRIJALVA,    AND    BECERRA.        [153'/2. 


coiamunicatfi  with  the  natives,  whom  he  was  to  concihate  by  every 
means  in  his  jwwer.  Should  he  find  a  country  which  seemed  to  be 
rich,  or  inhabited  by  civiHzed  persons,  he  was  immediately  to  return, 
or  to  send  back  one  of  his  vessels,  with  the  news.*  Ilurtado  de 
Mendoza  accordingly  proceeded  slowly  along  the  shore  of  the 
continent,  as  far  north-west  as  the  27th  degree  of  latitude,  where, 
finding  his  crew  mutinous,  he  sent  back  one  of  his  vessels,  with 
the  greater  part  of  his  men,  and  continued  the  voyage,  with  a  small 
crew,  in  the  other.  The  vessel  sent  back  reached  Culiacan  River 
in  great  distress,  and  was  there  deserted  by  nearly  all  her  men.  Her 
commander  then  endeavored,  with  the  remainder  of  his  crew,  to 
carry  her  to  Acapulco :  but  she  was  stranded  at  the  mouth  of  the 
River  of  Vanderas,  near  the  point  now  called  Cape  Corrientes,  and 
all  on  board,  with  the  exception  of  three,  were  put  to  death  by  the 
natives  of  the  country,  after  which  the  vessel  was  seized  and  plun- 
dered by  Nuno  de  Guzman.  As  to  the  vessel  in  which  Mendoza 
continued  his  voyage,  a  vague  account  was  received,  that  she  had 
been  thrown  on  the  coast  far  north,  and  that  all  her  crew  had 
perished. 

Cortes  did  not  receive  the  news  of  the  loss  of  the  vessel  which 
had  been  sent  back  by  Ilurtado  de  Mendoza  until  the  middle 
of  the  following  year;  and  he  then  immediately  despatched  two 
ships  from  Tehuantepec,  in  search  of  the  other  vessel,  under  the 
command,  respectively,  of  Hernando  Grijalva  and  Diego  Becerra. 
These  ships  left  the  port  together,  on  the  .'JOth  of  September, 
1533,  but  were  soon  after  separated.  Grijalva,  going  far  out, 
discovered  a  group  of  islands  situated  about  fifty  leagues  from 
the  coast,  named  by  him  Islands  of  St.  Thomas,  (the  same  now 
called  the  Rtvillagigedo  Islands,)  where  he  remained  until  the 
following  spring,  and  then  returned  to  Acapulco,  without  having 
seen  any  new  part  of  the  continent.  Becerra,  with  the  other  ship, 
took  his  course  north-westward  along  the  shore  of  Xalisco,  near 
which  his  crew  mutinied,  and  he  was  murdered  by  the  pilot, 
Fortuno  Ximenes.  The  mutineers,  under  the  command  of  the 
pilot,  then  steered  directly  west  from  the  ^ain-land,  and  soon 
reached  a  coast  not  before  known,  on  whicn  they  landed,  after 
anchoring  their  ship  in  a  small  bay,  near  the  23d  degree  of  latitude. 
There,  more  than  twenty  of  their  number,  including  Ximenes,  were 


*  Hcrrera,  Decade  v.  book  vii.  —  Manuscript  letters  and  memorials  from  Cortes  to 
the  emperor,  in  1539  and  1540;  and  from  Nuno  de  Guzman,  in  1535  and  1540. 


rom 
now 

the 
aving 
ship, 
near 
iilot, 

the 

soon 

after 

itude. 

were 

>rtuB  to 


m 


1535.] 


COUTES    LANDS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


55 


killed  by  the  natives ;  the  survivors  succeec!  .  in  carrying  the  vessel 
over  to  the  little  harbor  of  Chiametla,  in  Xalisco,  where  she  also 
was  seized  by  Nuno  de   Guzman. 

These  attempts  of  Cortes  to  make  discoveries  in  the  north-west, 
had,  in  the  mean  time,  excited  Nuno  de  Guzman  to  efforts  with  the 
same  object ;  and  he  had  sent  several  parties  of  men  in  that  direc- 
tion, one  of  which  appears  to  have  traced  the  western  shore  of  the 
continent  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  river  now  called  the  Colorado, 
and  to  have  first  brought  accounts  of  rich  and  populous  countries 
and  splendid  cities  in  the  interior.  Guzman  had  alf-o  received 
large  accessions  to  his  forces  from  Mexico,  and  was  making  many 
settlements,  one  of  which  soon  prospered,  and  became,  in  time, 
the  city  of  Guadalaxara,  the  second  in  size  in  New  Spain. 

When  Cortes  l)ecame  assured  of  the  seizure  of  his  vessels  by 
Guztnan,  he  addressed  a  complaint  on  the  subject  to  the  Audiencia ; 
whose  decision  being,  however,  not  so  determinate  in  his  favor  as 
he  wished,  he  assembled  a  large  body  of  troops,  and  marched  with 
them  to  Chiametla,  where  he  also  ordered  three  vessels  to  be  sent 
from  Tchuantepec.  On  the  approach  of  these  forces,  Guzman 
advanced  to  meet  them,  but  no  action  ensued  ;  and  Cortes,  having 
been  joined  at  Chiametla  by  his  vessels,  embarked  in  them,  with  a 
portion  of  his  men,  and  set  sail  for  the  new  country,  found  by 
Ximenes  in  the  west,  which  was  said  to  abound  in  the  finest  pearls. 
On  the  3d  of  May,  1535,  the  day  of  the  Invention  of  the  Holy 
Cross,  according  to  the  Roman  Catholic  calendar,  the  squadron 
anchored  in  the  bay,  on  the  shore  of  which  the  murderers  of 
Becerra  had  met  their  fate  in  the  preceding  year ;  and,  in  honor  of 
the  day,  the  name  of  Santa  Cruz  was  bestowed  on  the  place,  of 
which  possession  was   solemnly  taken   for  the    Spanish  sovereign. 

The  country  thus  claimed  by  Cortes  for  Spain,  was  the  south-east 
part  of  the  great  peninsula,  which  projects  from  the  American  con- 
tinent on  the  Pacific  side,  in  nearly  the  same  direction,  and  between 
nearly  the  same  parallels  of  latitude,  as  that  of  Florida  on  the 
Atlantic  side.  It  soon  after  received  the  name  of  California, 
respecting  the  origin  and  meaning  of  which,  many  speculations  — 
none  of  them  satisfactory  or  even  ingenious  —  have  been  offered. 
The  bay  called  Santa  Cruz  by  Cortes  was  probably  the  same  now 
known  as  Port  La  Paz,  about  a  hundred  miles  from  the  Pacific, 
near  the  24th  degree  of  latitude ;  though  some  accounts  place 
it  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  southernmost  point  of  the 
peninsula. 


' 


56 


CORTES    SUrUKSEUUD    BY    MENDUZA. 


[1537. 


u 


"•Hi  . 


On  the  shore  of  this  bay,  surrounded  by  bare  mountnins  of  rock, 
arid  and  forbidding?  in  appearance,  though  not  more  so  than  the 
sandy  waste  about  Vera  Cruz,  Cortts  landed  with  a  liundr»'d  and 
thirty  men  and  forty  horses,  and  then  sent  back  two  of  his  vessels  to 
Chiametla,  to  brini;  over  the  remainder  of  the  forces ;  hoping  to 
find,  in  the  interior  of  the  new  country,  another  Mexico,  in  the 
concjuest  of  which  he  might  employ  his  powerful  energies.  The 
vessels  soon  reappeared,  with  a  portion  of  the  troops,  and  were 
again  despatched  to  the  Mexican  coast,  from  which  only  one  of 
them  returned,  the  other  having  been  wrecked  on  her  way.  Cortes 
thereupon  embarked,  with  seventy  men,  for  Xalisco,  from  which  he 
came  back,  after  encountering  the  greatest  dangers,  just  in  time 
to  prevent  the  total  destruction  by  famine  of  those  left  at  Santa 
Cruz. 

In  these  operations,  more  than  a  year  was  consumed,  without 
obtaining  any  promise  of  advantage.  The  new  country,  so  far  as  it 
had  been  explored,  was  utterly  barren,  and,  except  that  a  few  pearls 
were  found  on  the  coast,  destitute  of  all  attraction  for  the  Spaniards. 
The  officers  of  the  expedition  were  discontented :  of  the  men,  a 
number  had  died  from  want  and  disease ;  the  others  were 
mutinous,  and  cursed  "Cortes,  his  island,  his  bay,  and  his  dis- 
covery."* 

Meanwhile  his  wife,  becoming  alarmed  by  the  reports  of  the  ill 
success  of  the  expedition,  which  had  reached  Mexico,  sent  a  vessel 
to  Santa  Cruz,  with  letters  entreating  his  immediate  return  ;  and  he, 
at  the  same  time,  learned  that  he  had  been  superseded  in  the 
government  of  New  Spain  Ity  Don  Antonio  de  Mendoza,  a  noble- 
man of  iiigh  rank  and  character,  who  had  already  made  his 
entrance  into  the  capital  as  viceroy. 

The  removal  of  Cortes  from  the  government  of  the  country  which 
had,  by  his  means,  been  added  to  the  dominions  of  Spain,  wa-i  a 
heavy  blow ;  particularly  as  he  was,  at  that  moment,  much  embar- 
rassed from  want  of  funds,  his  private  property  having  been  seriously 
injured  by  the  expenses  of  his  recent  expeditions,  from  which  no 
advantage  had  been  obtained.  He  was,  in  consequence,  obliged  to 
return  to  Mexico,  where  he  arrived  in  the  beginning  of  1537,  and, 
soon  after,  to  recall  from  Santa  Cruz  his  lieutenant,  Francisco  de 
Ulloa,  with  the  forces  which  had  been  left  there ;  and,  not  being 
able,  at  the  time,  to  employ  his  vessels,  he  sent  two  of  them,  under 
Grijalva,  to  Peru,  laden  with  arms,  ammunition,  and  provisions,  in 

"  Bernal  Dias,  chap.  109. 


vJtil. 


■i'.\ 


1627.] 


RAMBLES    OF    CABBZA-VACA. 


57 


the 
jle- 
his 


aid  of  his  friend  Francisco  Pizarro,  who  was  then  in  great  difficulties, 
from  an  extensive  insurrection  of  the  natives.* 

Corti'S,  nevertheless,  still  claimed  the  right,  in  virtue  of  his 
capitulation  with  the  sovereign,  und  as  admiral  of  the  South  Sea, 
to  make  expositions  on  that  ocean  for  his  own  benefit ;  and  he 
resolved  to  prosecute  the  discovery  of  California,  by  which  he 
still  expected  to  retrieve  his  fortunes,  so  soon  as  he  could  obtain  the 
requisite  funds.  The  advancement  of  this  claim,  however,  brought 
him  into  collision  with  the  new  viceroy,  who  was  an  enlightened 
and  determined  man,  and  who  had  likewise  become  interested  in  the 
exploration  of  the  regions  north-west  of  Mexico,  by  the  accounts  of 
some  persons  recently  arrived  from  that  quarter ;  and  a  violent  con- 
troversy ensued  between  the  two  chiefs,  which  lasted  until  the 
conqueror  quitted  Mexico. 

The  persons  from  whom  the  viceroy  Mendoza  received  this 
information  respecting  the  territories  north-west  of  Mexico,  were 
Alvaro  Nunez  de  Cabeza-Vaca,  two  other  Spaniards,  and  a  negro  or 
Moor.  They  had  landed,  in  1527,  near  Tampa  Bay,  in  the 
peninsula  of  Florida,  among  the  adventurers  who  invaded  that 
country  under  Panfilo  Narvaez,  in  search  of  mines  and  plunder; 
and,  after  the  destruction  of  their  comrades  by  shipwreck,  starvation, 
and  the  arrows  of  the  Indians,  they  had  wandered  for  nine  years 
through  forosis  and  deserts,  until  they  reached  Culiacan,  whence 
they  were  sent  on  to  Mexico.  Of  their  route,  it  is  impossible  to 
form  any  exact  idea  from  thf?  narrative  published  by  Cabeza-Vaca : 
he  had  seen  no  signs  of  wealth  or  civilization  in  the  regions  which 
he  had  traversed;  but  he  had,  in  many  places,  received  from  the 
natives  accounts  of  rich  and  populous  countries,  inhabited  by 
civilized  people,  situated  farther  north-west ;  and  the  viceroy,  after 
hearing  these  accounts,  thought  proper  to  endeavor  to  ascertain  the 


4 


V] 


I 


i 


1fl 
I 


r^  n 


Is,  in 


*  A  long  account  of  the  adventures  of  Cortes,  in  his  Californian  expedition,  may 
be  found  in  Herrera,  Decade  viii.  book  viii.  chap.  ix.  and  x.  The  descriptions  of 
the  localities  given  by  Herrera,  and  other  historians,  are,  however,  so  vague,  that  it  in 
impossible  to  trace  the  movements  of  the  Spaniards  with  exactness ;  and  the  events 
related  are  unimportant,  being  merely  details  of  disasters,  such  as  might  have 
occurred  to  ordinary  men,  engaged  in  ordinary  enterprises.  Those  who  take  interest 
in  every  thing  connected  with  Cort6s,  —  and  the  number  of  such  will  doubtless  be 
greatly  increased,  after  the  publication  of  Mr.  Prescott's  History  of  the  Conquest  of 
Mexico,  —  may  obtain  explanations,  as  to  the  events  of  this  expedition,  from  the 
Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes,  and  from  the  first  volume  of 
Burney's  History  of  Voyages  in  the  Pacific  ;  but  they  should  avoid  the  account 
given  by  Fleurieu,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Marchand's  Voyage,  which 
only  renders  confusion  worse  confused. 

8 


:,>ii 


I 


hi 


tl 


m 


h'^r 


]■•  -1 


58  ULLOA    UIHCUVERS    THK    WKST    COAST    01*    CALIKOUNIA.    [1539. 

truth  of  them.  For  this  purpose  he  collected  u  hnnd  of  fifty  horse- 
men, who  were  to  he  coinmniuled  hy  Dorantes,  one  of  the  conipnii- 
ions  of  Cnbeza-V^ica ;  hut,  that  plan  hein^  overthrown  by  some 
circumstance,  he  was  inchiced,  hy  the  representations  of  his  friend, 
the  celebrated  Bartoloniu  de  las  Casas,  to  deputf;  two  friars  to  niako 
the  exploration,  with  the  view  of  preservini^  the  inhabitants  of  the 
countries  visited,  from  the  violence  to  which  military  men  would  not 
fail  to  resort,  if  there  should  be  occasion,  for  the  gratification  of 
their  cupidity.  The  friars,  Mare'os  de  Niza,  provincial  of  the 
Franciscan  order  in  Mexico,  and  llonorato,  accompanied  by  the 
negro  or  Moor,  FiStavanico,  who  had  crossed  the  continent  with 
Cabeza-Vaca,  accordingly  sot  out  from  Culiacan,  on  the  7th  of  March, 
1539,  in  search  of  the  rich  countries  reported  to  lie  in  the  north-west. 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  the  friars,  the  last  expedition  made 
by  order  of  Cortes  was  begun.*  It  was  commanded  by  Francisco 
de  Ulloa,  who  sailed  from  Acapuico  on  the  8th  of  July,  1 539,  with 
three  vessels,  well  manned  and  equipped,  and  took  his  course  for 
California.  One  of  the  vessels  was  driven  ashore  in  a  storm  near 
Culiacan  :  with  the  others  Ulhia  proceeded  to  the  Bay  of  Santa 
Cruz,  and  thence  in  a  few  days  departed  to  survey  the  coasts 
towards  the  north-east.  In  this  occupation  the  ships  were  engaged 
until  the  18th  of  October,  when  Ulloa  returned  to  Santa  Cruz, 
having  in  the  mean  time  completely  examined  both  shores  of  the 
great  gulf  which  separates  California  from  the  main  land  on  the 
east,  and  ascertained  the  fact  of  the  junction  of  the  two  territories, 
near  the  3*2d  degree  of  latitude,  though  he  failed  to  discover  the 
Colorado  River,  which  enters  the  gulf  at  its  northern  extremity. 
This  gulf  was  named,  by  Ulloa,  the  Sen  of  Cortes ;  but  it  is  gener- 
ally distinguished,  on  Spanish  maps,  as  the  Vermilion  Sea,  [Mar 
Vermejo,)  and,  in  those  of  other  nations,  as  the  Gulf  of  California. 

On  the  29th  of  October,  Ulloa  again  sailed  from  Santa  Cruz,  in 
order  to  examine  the  coasts  farther  west,  and  having  rounded  the 
point  now  called  Cape  San  Lucas,  which  forms  the  southern 
extremity  of  California,  he  pursued  his  voyage  along  the  coast 
towards  the  north.  In  this  direction  the  Spaniards  proceeded 
slowly,  often  landing  and  fighting  with  the  natives,  and  generally 
opposed  by  violent  storms  from  the  north-west,  until  the  end  of 
January,  1540,  when  they  had  reached  an  island  near  the  coast, 
under  the  28th  parallel  of  latitude,  which  they  named  the  Isle  of 

•  See  Narrative  of  Francisco  Preciado,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Santa  Agueda,  in 
Ramusio,  vol.  iii.  p.  283,  and  in  Hakluyt,  vol.  iii.  p.  503. 


•'I  ^'\ 


1540.] 


JOURNUY    or    FRIAR    MARCOS    DP.    NIZA. 


rilled 


Cedars.  There  they  rcnmineil  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  until 
the  beginning  of  April,  being  prevented  from  advancing  farther 
north  by  head  winds;  and  then,  as  several  of  the  crews  of  both 
vessels  were  disabled  by  sickness,  and  their  provisions  were  insuf- 
ficient to  enal)Ie  them  to  contintic  the  voyage  together  much  longer, 
Ulloa  resolved  to  s<muI  one  of  his  ships  back  to  Mexico.  Tho 
Siitita  Agufdu,  bearing  the  sick  and  the  accounts  of  the  discoveries, 
accordingly  sailed  from  the  Isle  of  Cedars  on  the  5th  of  April,  and 
in  the  iH-ginning  of  the  following  month  she  arrived  at  Santiago,  in 
Xulisco,  where  she  was  seized  by  the  officers  of  the  viceroy,  who 
was  anxious  to  learn  the  particulars  of  her  discoveries.  Of  the  fate 
of  Ulloa  there  are  contra«lictory  accounts.  Herrera  says  that 
nothing  was  ever  heard  of  him  after  his  parting  with  the  Santa 
Agueda  ;  others  of  his  contemporaries,  however,  state  that  he  con- 
tinued his  voyage  along  the  west  coast  of  California,  as  far  as  a 
point  called  Cape  Ensrano,  near  the  30th  degree  of  latitude,  and 
thence  returned  safely  to  Mexico. 

Whatsoever  may  have  been  the  importance  of  the  geographical 
results  of  this  voyage,  they  were  scarcely  satisfactory  to  Cortes ;  and 
they  attracted  little  attention  amotig  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico,  who 
were  then  all  engaged  in  plans  and  s|)oculations  concerning  the  rich 
and  delightful  countries,  of  the  discovery  of  which,  by  Friar  Marcos 
de  Niza  and  his  companions,  accounts  had  recently  arrived.  From 
these  accounts,  as  contained  in  the  letter  addressed  to  the  viceroy 
by  Friar  Marcos,*  and  from  other  evidence,  it  is  probable  that  the 
reverend  explorer  did  really  penetrate  to  a  considerable  distance  into 
the  interior  of  the  continent,  and  did  find  there  countries  partially 
cultivated,  and  inhabited  by  people  possessing  some  acquaintance 
with  the  arts  of  civilized  life ;  though,  as  to  the  precise  situation  of 
those  regions,  or  the  routes  pursued  in  reaching  them,  no  definite 
idea  can  be  derived  from  the  narrative.  The  friar  pretended  to 
have  discovered,  north-west  of  Mexico,  beyond  the  .35th  degree  of 
latitude,  extensive  territories,  richly  cultivated,  and  abounding  in 
gold,  silver,  and  precious  stones,  the  population  of  which  was  much 
greater,  and  farther  advanced  in  civilization,  than  those  of  Mexico 
or  Peru.  In  these  countries  were  many  towns,  and  seven  cities, 
of  which  the  friar  only  saw  one,  called  Chvola  or  Cibola,  containing 
twenty   thousand    large   stone    houses,  some   of  four   stories,  and 


r' 


t 


i" '  ;'■  ■'1 


"  m 


^  :'*li! 


leda,  in 


*  The  letter  of  Friar  Marcos,  relating  his  discoveries,  may  be  found  in  Rainusio, 
vol.  iii.  p.  297,  and  in  Hakluyt,  vol.  iii.  p.  438.    See,  also,  Herrera,  Decad(>  vi.  p.  204. 


VOYAGE  OF  ALARCON. 


If. 


J 


t^v 


I, 


^ 


[1540. 


adorned  with  jewels ;  yet  he  was  assured,  by  the  people,  that  this 
was  the  smallest  of  the  cities,  and  far  inferior,  in  extent  and  mag- 
nificence, to  one  called  Totonteac,  situated  more  towards  the  north- 
west. The  inhabitants  of  Cibola  had,  at  first,  been  hostile  to  the 
Spaniards,  and  had  killed  the  negro;  but  they  had,  in  the  end, 
manifested  a  disposition  to  embrace  Christianity,  and  to  submit  to 
the  authority  of  the  king  of  Spain,  in  whose  name  Friar  Marcos 
had  taken  possession  of  the  whole  country,  by  secretly  erecting 
crosses  in  many  places. 

These,  and  other  things  of  a  similar  kind,  gravely  related  by  a 
respectable  priest,  who  professed  to  have  witnessed  what  he  described, 
were  universally  admitted  to  be  true ;  and  the  viceroy  Mendoza, 
having  communicated  them  to  his  sovereign,  began  to  prepare  for 
the  reduction  of  the  new  countries,  and  the  conversion  of  their 
inhabitants  to  Christianity.  Cortes,  however,  insisted  on  continuing 
his  discoveries  in  the  same  direction,  apparently  giving  little  credit 
to  the  statements  of  Friar  Marcos ;  while  his  old  companion  in  arms, 
the  redoubtable  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  claimed  to  undertake  the  con- 
quest in  virtue  of  a  capitulation  recently  concluded  between  himself 
and  the  emperor.  Hernando  de  Soto,  likewise,  who  had  just 
obtained  a  commission  for  the  discovery  of  Florida,  declared  the 
seven  cities  to  be  within  his  jurisdiction ;  and  Nuno  de  Guzman 
protested  that  his  own  right  was  the  best,  and  witli  some  reason,  in 
consequence  of  his  labors  in  the  subjugation  and  settlement  of  New 
Galicia,  of  which  he  maintained  that  the  rich  countries  formed 
part.  After  these  disputes  had  lusted  some  months,  a  compromise 
was  made  between  the  viceroy  and  Alvarado,  agreeably  to  which 
the  latter  was  to  command  the  expedition  destined  for  the  reduction 
of  the  rich  territories  in  the  north-west ;  and,  about  the  same  time, 
Cortes  returned  in  disgust  to  Spain,  where  he  passed  the  remaining 
seven  years  of  his  life  in  vain  etforts  to  recover  his  authority  in 
Mexico,  or  to  obtain  indemnification  for  his  losses. 

The  viceroy  Mendoza  had,  however,  immediately  on  receiving  the 
news  of  the  discoveries  from  Friar  Marcos,  sent  two  bodies  of  armed 
forces,  the  one  by  land,  the  other  by  sea,  to  reconnoitre  the  rich 
countries,  and  prepare  the  way  for  their  conquest. 

The  marine  armament  consisted  of  two  ships,  commanded  by 
Fernando  de  Alarcon,  who  sailed  from  thi  port  of  Santiago  on  the 
9th  of  May,  1540,  and,  proceeding  along  the  coast  towards  the 
north-west,  reached  the  extremity  of  the  Gulf  of  California  in 
August  following.     There  he  discovered  a  great  river,  which  he 


1540.] 


EXPEDITION    OF    VAZQUEZ    DE    COftONADO. 


61 


named  Rio  de  Nuesiru  Senora  de  Buena  Guia,*  (or  River  of  our 
Lady  of  Safe  Conduct,)  probably  the  same  now  called  the  Colorado. 
This  stream  Alarcon  ascended,  to  the  distance  of  more  than  eighty 
leagues,  with  a  party  of  his  men,  in  boats,  making  inquiries  on  the 
way  about  the  seven  cities;  in  reply  to  which,  he  received  from 
the  Indians  a  number  of  confused  stories  —  of  kingdoms  rich  in 
precious  metals  and  jewels  —  of  rivers  filled  with  crocodiles  and  other 
monsters  —  of  droves  of  buflfaloes  —  of  enchanters  —  and  other  won- 
derful or  remarkable  objects.  Of  Totonteac  he  could  learn  nothing ; 
though,  at  the  end  of  his  voyage  up  the  river,  he  obtained  what  he 
considered  some  definite  information  respecting  Cibola,  and  was 
assured  that  he  might  reach  that  place  by  a  march  of  ten  days  into 
the  interior.  He,  however,  suspected  treachery  on  the  part  of  those 
who  gave  the  assurance  ;  and,  not  conceiving  it  prudent  to  attempt 
to  advance  farther,  he  returned  to  his  ships.  In  a  second  voyage  up 
the  river,  he  obtained  no  additional  information ;  and,  believing  it 
needless  to  continue  the  search,  he  went  back  to  Mexico,  where  he 
arrived  before  the  end  of  the  year.f 

The  land  forces,  despatched  at  the  same  time  towards  the  north- 
west, were  composed  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  and  were  accompanied 
by  priests,  for  the  conversion  of  the  natives  to  Christianity.  They 
were  commanded  by  Francisco  Vaz(juez  de  Coronado,  a  man  of 
resolute  and  serious  character,  and  by  no  means  disposed  to  exag- 
gerate, who  had  been  appointed  governor  of  New  Galicia,  in  place 
of  Nuno  de  Guzman.  His  letter  to  the  viceroy,J  containing 
accounts  of  the  first  period  of  the  expedition,  though  wanting  in 
precision,  is  yet  sJifficiently  exart  to  aftbrd  a  general  idea  of  the 
direction  in  which  he  marched,  and  even  of  the  position  of  some  of 
the  principal  places  which  he  visited. 

*  In  honor  of  the  viceroy,  who  bore  on  his  arms  an  imago  of  J\'ucstra  Senora  de 
Buena  Guia. 

t  Letter  of  Alarcon  to  the  viceoy  Mondo/a,  in  Ramuaio,  vol.  iii.  p.  303,  and  in 
Haklnyt,  vol.  iii.  p.  50u.     See,  also,  Herrcra,  Decade  vi.  p.  'M6. 

The  Californian  Gulf  had  thus  been  completely  explored,  as  appears  not  only 
from  the  accounts  of  the  voyages  of  UUoa  and  Alarcon,  but  also  from  a  chart  of  the 
coasts  of  California,  and  the  west  coast  of  Mexico,  drawn,  in  ir)41,  by  Domingo  del 
Castillo,  Alarcon's  pilot,  of  which  an  engraved /rtc-.v//H«7c  may  be  found  in  the  edition 
of  the  Letters  of  Cortes,  published  at  Mexico,  in  177(1,  by  Archbishop  Lorenzana. 
The  shores  of  the  gulf,  and  of  the  west  side  of  California,  to  the  30th  degree  of  lati- 
tude, are  there  delineated  with  a  surprising  approach  to  accuracy.  The  pilot  doubt- 
less derived  his  information  chiefly  from  the  journals  of  Ulloa,  which  were  sent  back 
in  the  Santa  Agueda,  and  were  seized,  by  order  of  the  viceroy,  immediately  on  the 
arrival  of  that  vessel  in  Mexico. 

t  Ramuflio,  vol.  iii.  p.  300.     Hakluyt,  vol.  iii.  p.  447. 


•f'i 
::  A 


■Sn   ^' 


Ml 


m 


62 


CIBOLA. 


[1540. 


hi 


Agreeably  to  this  letter,  the  Spaniards  left  Culiacan  on  the  22(1 
of  April,  1540,  and  took  their  way  towards  the  north,  following,  as 
well  as  they  could,  the  course  described  by  the  friar  :  but,  ere  they 
had  proceeded  far,  they  had  abundant  evidences  of  the  incorrect- 
ness of  the  accounts  of  that  personage  ;  for  the  route  which  he  had 
represented  as  easy  and  practicable,  proved  to  be  almost  inipa'*sable. 
They,  however,  made  their  way  over  mountains  and  deserts,  and 
through  rivers,  and,  at  length,  in  July,  they  reached  the  country  of 
the  seven  cities,  for  which  Cibola  a]>|)eared  to  be  the  general  name ; 
but,  to  their  disappointment,  it  proved  to  be  only  a  half-cultivated 
region,  thinly  inhabited  by  people  not  absolutely  savage,  though 
destitute  of  the  wealth  and  rctinement  attributed  to  them  by  B'riar 
Marcos.  The  seven  great  cities  were  seven  small  towns,  some  of 
them,  indeed,  containing  large  houses  of  stone,  rudely  built,  and  un- 
ornamented.  Of  fruits  there  were  none,  except  such  as  grew  wild ; 
and  the  immense  quantities  of  precious  metals  and  stones  were 
merely  "a  (cw  tunjuoises.  and  some  gold  and  silver,  supposed  to  be 
good.  In  tine,"  says  Vazciuez  de  Coronado,  in  his  letter  to  the 
viceroy,  "'  of  the  seven  cities,  and  the  kingdoms  and  provinces  of 
which  the  reverend  father  provincial  made  a  report  to  your  excel- 
lency, he  spoke  the  truth  in  nothing ;  for  we  have  found  all  to  be 
quite  the  contrary,  except  only  as  to  the  houses  of  stone."  The 
Spaniards,  nevertheless,  took  possession  of  the  country,  in  due  form, 
for  their  sovereign ;  and,  being  pleased  with  its  soil  and  climate, 
they  entreated  their  connnander  to  allow  them  to  remain  and  settle 
there.  To  this  inglorious  proposition  V  a7.(jue7,  refused  to  consent ; 
and,  having  despatclied  his  letter  to  Mendoza.  from  one  of  the  cities 
of  Cibola,  named  by  him  Granada,  he  took  his  departure,  with  his 
forces,  for  the  north-west,  in  search  of  other  new  countries. 

From  the  descriptions  of  the  position,  climate,  productions,  and 
animals,  of  Cibola,  given  by  Vazquez  de  Coronado,  there  is  some 
reason  for  believing  it  to  be  the  region  near  the  great  dividii  „ 
chain  of  mountains,  east  of  the  northernmost  part  of  the  Gulf  of 
California,  about  the  head-waters  of  the  Rivers  Yaqui  and  Gila, 
which  fall  into  that  arm  of  the  Pacific.  This  |)art  of  America,  now 
called  Sonora,  (a  corruption  of  iSenora,)  though  long  siuce  settled  by 
the  Spaniards,  is  little  known  to  the  inhabitants  >^'{  other  countries. 
It  is  described,  by  those  who  have  recently  visited  it,  as  a  most 
delightful,  productive,  and  salubrious  region,  containing  innumerable 
mines  of  silver  and  gold,  among  which  are  some  of  the  richest  in 
the  world.     There  are,  moreover,  in  that  territory,  many  collections 


1540—1543.] 


QUIVIRA. 


63 


lUfc* 


o 

If  of 

iila, 

Inovv 

jlby 

Iries. 

most 

lahle 

It  ill 

lions 


of  ruins  of  laii^o  stone  buildinijrs,  which  were  found  in  their  present 
state  by  the  first  Spanish  settlers,  and  are  called  casus  grandes  ih 
las  Aztcques,  (great  houses  of  the  Aztecks.)  from  the  supposi- 
tion or  tradition  that  they  were  built  by  that  people  before  tiieir 
invasion  of  Mexico.*  Vazquez  de  Coronado,  indeed,  remarks  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Cibola,  though  not  wanting  in  intelligence,  did 
not  appear  to  be  capable  of  erecting  the  houses  which  he  saw  there. 

Of  the  movements  of  the  Spaniards,  after  they  quitted  Cibola, 
in  August,  1540,  the  accounts  are  so  vague  and  contradictory,  that 
it  is  im|)ossible  to  trace  their  route.  It  seems,  however,  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  forces  soon  returned  to  Mexico  ;  while  the  others, 
under  their  commander,  wandered,  for  nearly  two  years  longer, 
through  the  interior  of  the  continent,  in  search  of  a  country  called 
Qitlviro,  said,  by  the  Indians,  to  be  situated  far  in  the  north,  and  to 
be  governed  by  "  a  king  named  Tatarrax,  with  a  long  beard,  hoary- 
liradod,  and  rich,  who  worshipped  a  cross  of  gold,  and  the  image 
of  the  Ciueen  of  Heaven.''  f  This  country  they  found  near  the  40th 
degree  of  latitude  :  but  the  people  had  no  other  wealth  than  skins  ; 
and  their  king,  though  hoary-headed,  possessed  no  jewels,  ••  save  one 
of  copper,  hanging  about  his  neck."  (luivira  is  described  as  a  level 
territory,  covered  with  herds  of  l)ut^aloes,  which  form  the  whole 
su[)i)ort  of  the  inhabitants;  and.  if  its  latitude  has  been  correctly 
reported,  it  is  most  probably  the  region  about  the  head-waters  of  the 
Arkansas  and  Platte  lliv(M"s  ;  though  (lomara  places  it  near  the  sea, 
and  says  that  the  Spaniards  saw  ships  on  the  coast,  laden  with 
Kast  India  goods.  Vaz(]nez  had.  probably,  before  leaving  Quivira, 
learned  the  true  value  of  Indian  accounts  of  rich  countries ;  and, 
not  deeming  it  advisable  to  pur;uie  the  search  for  them  any  longer, 
he  returned  to  Mexico  in  151.'}. 

During  the  absence  of  Vaz(]uez  de  Coronado,  the  great  arma- 
ment, destined  for  the  (>xi)loration  and  concjuest  of  the  north-western 
territories,  imder  Pedro  de  Alvarado,  was  pi-(>pnred  ;  but,  just  as 
the  expedition  was  about  to  be  commenced,  a  rebellion  broke  out 
among  the  Indians  of  Xalisco,  and  all  the  forces  at  the  viceroy's 
disposal  were  reqinnul  to  (piell  it.  In  the  campaign  which  ensued, 
in  the  summer  of  1541 ,  Alvarado  was  killed  by  a  kick  from  a  horse  ; 
and  Mendoza's  expectations  of  advantage  from  the  north-west 
regions  were,  in  the  mean  time,  so  much  lowercfi,  that  he  resolved 
to  reduce  the  scale  of  his  expeditions  for  discovery  in  that  quarter. 


i^ 


■il 


I 


4 II 

i 


•  Hardy's  Travels  in  Mexico,  from  lH2c>  to  1H28. 


t  Gomara,  chap.  213. 


f 


i  :li 


Ivl 


64 


VOYAGE    OF    CABRILLO. 


[1542,  1543. 


The  disturbances  being,  at  length,  ended,  in  the  spring  of  1542,  two 
vessels  were  placed  under  the  command  of  Juan  Rodriguez  Cabrillo, 
a  Portuguese  of  high  reputation  as  a  navigator,  wlio  was  directed 
to  examine  the  western  side  of  California,  as  far  northward  as  pos- 
sible, seeking  particularly  for  rich  corntries,  and  for  passages  leading 
towards  the  Atlantic ;  while  Ruy  Lopez  de  Villalobos,  a  relation  of 
the  viceroy,  was  sent,  with  the  rcmamder  of  the  disposable  vessels 
and  forces,  across  the  Pacific,  to  endeavor  to  form  establishments  in 
India. 

The  two  vessels  under  Cabrillo  sailed  together  from  Navidad,  a 
small  port  in  Xalisco,  in  June.  1542;  and,  having  in  a  few  days 
doubled  Cape  San  Lucas,  tlio  survey  of  the  west  coast  of  California 
was  begun  from  that  point.  It  would  be  needless  to  endeavor  to 
trace  the  progress  of  Cabrillo  along  this  coast,  or  to  enumerate  the 
many  capes  and  bays  mentioned  in  the  account  of  his  voyage, 
nearly  all  of  which  places,  so  far  as  they  can  be  identified,  are  now 
distinguished  by  names  entirely  ditTerent  from  those  bestowed  on 
them  by  him.  By  the  middle  of  August,  he  had  advanced  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  supposed  discoveries  of  Ulloa  ;  and,  in  November, 
after  having  examined  the  coast  as  far  north  as  the  88th  degree  of 
latitude,  he  was  driven  back,  and  forced  to  take  refuge  in  a  harbor 

Island  of   Sail 
the  main  land, 

under  the  34th  parallel.  There  Cabrillo,  who  had  been  for  some 
time  sick,  sank  under  the  fatigues  of  the  voyage,  on  rhe  .3d  of 
January,  1'^^'^.  leaving  the  command  to  the  pilot,  Bartolome  Ferrelo. 

The  new  commander,  being  no  less  zealous  and  determined  than 
his  predecessor,  resolved,  if  possible,  to  accomplish  the  main  objects 
of  the  expedition  before  returning  to  Mexico.  He  accordingly, 
soon  after,  sailed  from  Port  Possession  towards  the  north,  and,  on 
the  26th  of  February,  reached  a  promontory  situated  under  the  41st 
parallel,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Cabo  dc  Fortunes,  (Cape 
of  Perils,  or  Stormy  Cape,)  from  the  dangers  encountered  in  its 
vicinity.  On  the  1st  of  March,  the  ships  were  in  the  latitude  of 
44  degrees,  as  determined  by  a  solar  observation  ;  but,  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  they  were  again  driven  to  the  south ;  and,  the  men 
being,  at  this  time,  almost  worn  out,  by  long  exposure  to  cold  and 
fatigue,  without  sufficient  food  or  clothing,  Ferrelo  determined  to  go 
back  to  Mexico.  The  ships,  therefore,  quitted  the  Isle  of  Cedars, 
discovered  by  Ulloa,  in  the  beginning  of  April,  and,  on  the  14th  of 
that  month,  they  arrived  at  Navidad. 


named  by   him   Port   Possession,  situated    in   the 
Bernardo,  one  of  the  Santa  Barbara  group,  near 


m 


1543.] 


EXPEDITION    OF    SOTO. 


65 


From  *he  accounts  of  this  expedition  which  have  been  preserved, 
it  is  not  ea  y  to  determine  precisely  how  far  north  the  American 
coast  was  discovered.  The  most  northern  point  of  land  mentioned 
in  those  accounts  is  the  Cape  of  Perils,  which,  though  there  placed 
under  the  41st  parallel,  was  probably  the  same  soon  after  called 
Cape  Mendocino,  in  the  latitude  of  40  degrees  20  minutes.  Other 
''uthors,  however,  whose  opinions  are  entitled  to  respect,  pronounce 
the  43d  parallel  to  be  the  northern  limit  of  the  discoveries  made  by 
the  Spaniards  in  1543.* 

Whilst  these  expeditions  to  the  north-western  parts  of  America 
were  in  progress,  Hernando  de  Soto,  and  his  band  of  Spanish 
adventurers,  were  performing  their  celebrated  march,  in  quest  of 
mines  and  plunder,  through  the  regions  extending  north  of  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  which  wero  then  known  by  the  general  name  of  Florida. 
Without  attempting  here  to  trace  the  line  of  their  wanderings, 
suffice  it  to  say,  that  they  traversed,  in  various  directions,  the  vast 
territories  now  composing  the  Southern  and  South- Western  States 
of  the  American  Federal  Union,  and  descended  the  Mississippi  in 
boats,  from  the  vicinity  of  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  to  the  Mex- 
ican Gulf,  on  which  they  continued  their  voyage,  along  the  coast, 
to  Panuco.  From  the  accounts  of  the  few  who  survived  the  toils 
and  perils  of  that  memorable  enterprise,  taken  together  with  those 
colioctcd  by  Cabeza-Vaca  and  Vazquez  de  Coronado,  concerning 
the  territories  which  they  had  respectively  visited,  it  was  considered 
certain  that  neither  ivealthy  nations,  nor  navigable  passages  of  com- 
munication between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  Oceans,  tcere  to  be 
found  north  of  Mexico,  unless  beyond  the  40th  parallel  of  latitude. 

The  Spaniards,  having  arrived  at  these  conclusions,  for  some  time 
desisted  from  attempting  to  explore  the  north  western  section  of 
the  continent ;  and  circumstances,  meanwhile,  occurred,  which 
impressed  their  government  with  the  belief  that  the  discovery  of  any 
passage  facilitating  the  entrance  of  European  vessels  into  the  Pacific, 
would  be  deleterious  to  the  power  and  interests  of  Spain  in  the  New 
World. 


1< 


V-\ 


m 


Ki 


■I   n 


men 

and 

to  go 

;dars, 

thof 


•  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes,  p,  35.     See,  also,  Burney's 
History  of  Voyages  in  the  Pacific,  vol.  i.  p.  220. 

9 


66 


CHAPTER   II. 


1543  TO  160G. 


l|^  • 


■HP 


The  Spaniards  conquer  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  establish  a  direct  Trade  across  the 
Pacific,  between  Asia  and  America  —  Measures  of  the  Spanish  Government  to 
pn  •  ent  other  European  Nations  from  settlinij  or  trading  in  America  —  These 
Measures  resisted  by  the  Englisii,  the  French,  and  tlie  Dutdi  —  Free  Traders  and 
Freebooters  infest  the  West  Indies  —  First  Voyages  of  the  English  in  the  Pacific  — 
Voyages  of  Drake  and  Cavendish  —  Endeavors  of  the  English  to  discover  a  North- 
West  Passage  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  —  False  Reports  of  the  Discovery 
of  such  Passages  —  Supposed  Voyages  of  Urdaiieta,  Maldonado,  and  Fonte  — 
Voyage  of  Juan  do  Fuca  —  Expeditions  of  Sebiistian  Vizcaino — Supposed  Dis- 
covery of  a  great  Iliver  in  North- West  America. 


Whilst  the  Spaniards  were  thus  extending  their  dominion  in 
the  New  World,  the  Portuguese  were  daily  acquiring  advantages 
in  India,  with  which  they  carried  on  a  profitable  trade,  by  means  of 
their  ships  sailing  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  Spaniards, 
viewing  this  increase  of  the  power  of  their  rivals  with  jealousy  and 
hatred,  made  many  endeavors,  likewise,  to  form  establishments  in 
Asia  ;  but  all  their  expeditions  for  that  purpose  before  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  terminated  disastrously.  The  armaments 
sent  from  Spain  to  India  under  Loyasa,  in  1 525,  and  from  Mexico, 
under  Saavedra,  in  the  ensuing  year,  were  entirely  ineffective.  In 
154-2,  Ruy  Lopez  de  Villalobos  crossed  the  Pacific  with  a  large 
squadron  from  Mexico,  and  took  possession  of  the  Philippine  Islands 
for  his  sovereign ;  but  his  forces  were  soon  after  dispersed,  and 
none  of  his  vessels  returned  eith(  f-  to  Europe  or  to  America. 

In  1564,  the  Spaniards  made  another  attempt  to  gain  a  footing 
in  the  East  Indies,  which  was  successful.  The  Philippine  Islands 
were  in  th^t  yea'  «  ibjugated  by  Miguel  de  Legazpi,  who  had  been 
despatched  from  Mexico  with  a  small  squadron  for  the  purpose ; 
and  a  discov<  ry  was  also  made  in  the  course  of  this  expedition, 
without  which  the  conquest  would  have  been  of  no  value.  Before 
that  period,  no  European  had  ever  crossed  the  Pacific  from  Asia  to 
America;  all  who  had  endeavored  to  make  such  a  voyage  having 
confined  themselves  to  the  part  of  the  ocean  between  the  tropics 


1564.]    IMPROVEMENTS    IN    THE    NAVIGATION    OP   THE    PACIFIC.         67 


where  the  winds  blow  constantly  from  eastern  points.  Three  of 
Le^iazpi's  vessels,  however,  under  the  direction  of  Andres  de 
Urdaneta,  a  friar,  who  had  in  early  life  accompanied  Magellan  in 
his  expedition,  and  had  subsequently  acquired  great  reputation  as 
a  navigator,  by  taking  a  northward  course  from  the  Philippine 
Islands,  entered  a  region  of  variable  winds,  near  the  40th  parallel 
of  latitude,  and  were  thus  enabled  to  reach  the  coast  of  California, 
along  which  the  prevailing  north-westers  carried  them  speedily  to 
Mexico. 

The  Spaniards  thus  gained,  what  they  had  so  long  coveted,  a 
position  in  the  East  Indies  ;  and  the  practicability  of  communicating, 
by  way  of  the  Pacific,  between  Asia  and  America,  was  placed 
beyond  a  doubt.  At  the  same  time,  also,  Juan  Fernandes  discov- 
ered the  mode  of  navigating  between  places  on  the  west  coast  of 
South  America,  by  standing  out  obliquely  to  a  distance  from  the 
continent ;  and  other  improvements  of  a  similar  kind  having  been 
moreover  introduced,  the  Spanish  commerce  on  the  Pacific  soon 
became  important.  Large  ships,  called  galleons,  sailed  annually 
from  Acapulco  to  Manilla,  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  to  Macao, 
in  China,  laden  with  precious  metals  and  European  merchandise,  in 
return  for  which  they  brought  back  silks,  spices,  and  porcelain,  for 
consumption  in  America,  or  for  transportation  over  the  Atlantic  to 
Europe ;  while  an  extensive  trade  in  articles  equally  valuable  was 
carried  on  between  Panama  and  the  various  ports  of  Peru  and 
Chili.  These  voyages  on  the  Pacific  were  usually  long,  but  com- 
paratively safe,  at  least  so  far  as  regards  exemption  from  injury  by 
winds  and  waves,  though  the  crews  of  the  vessels  often  suffered 
dreadfully  from  scurvy  occasioned  by  filth  and  want  of  good  water 
and  provisions  ;  *  and,  as  that  ocean  remained  for  some  years  undis- 
turbed by  the  presence  of  enemies  of  Spain,  little  care  or  cost  was 
bestowed  upon  the  defence,  either  of  the  vessels  or  of  the  towns  on 
the  coasts. 

The  galleons,  proceeding  from  Mexico  to  India,  were  wafted,  by 
the  invariable  easterly  or  trade  winds,  directly  across  the  ocean,  in 
about  three  months  ;  in  the  return  voyage,  they  often  occupied 
more  than  double  that  lime,  and  they  always  made  the  west  coast 
of  California,  the  principal  points  on  which  thus  became  tolerably 
well  known  before  the  end  of  the  sixteentli  century.     Accounts  of 


■f     M 


m 


*  For  accounts  of  the  miseries  of  a  voyage  from  Manilla  to  Acapulco,  in  1697,  see 
Gemelli  Carrcri's  narrative,  in  the  fourth  volume  of  Churchill's  collection  of  voyages, 
which,  if  not  true,  is  very  like  truth. 


i-i 


63 


VOYAGE    OF    OALI. 


[1584. 


i 


;  I 


some  of  these  voyages  have  been  preserved,  but  they  are  of  little 
value  at  present,  from  their  want  of  precision.  One  of  them  is  a 
letter  from  Francisco  Gali,  addressed  to  the  viceroy  of  Mexico, 
describing  his  passage  from  Macao  to  Acapulco,  in  1584,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  sailed  along  the  west  coast  of  America,  from  the 
latitude  of  thirty-seven  and  a  half  degrees  southward  to  Mexico.* 
It  has,  however,  been  maintained,  on  the  evidence  of  papers  found 
in  the  archives  of  the  Indies,!  that  Gali  arrived  on  that  coast  in  the 
latitude  of  fifty-seven  and  a  half  degrees,  and  is  therefore  to  be 
considered  as  the  discoverer  of  the  whole  shore  between  that  par- 
allel and  the  forty-third:  but  this  assertion  is  supported  by  no 
evidence  sufficient  to  overthrow  the  express  statement  of  the 
navigator  in  his  letter,  the  genuineness  of  which  is  not  denied  ;  and 
Gali,  moreover,  there  declares  that  the  land  first  seen  by  him  was 
"  very  high  and  fair,  and  tvholly  without  snotv,^'  which  could  not 
have  been  the  case  with  regard  to  the  north-west  coast  of  America, 
under  the  parallel  of  fifty-seven  and  a  half  degrees,  in  the  middle 
of  October.  In  1595,  Sebastian  Cermenon,  in  the  ship  San 
Augustin,  on  his  way  from  Manilla  to  Acapulco,  examined  the 
same  coasts,  by  order  of  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  in  search  of  some 
harbor  in  which  the  galleons  might  take  refuge,  and  make  repairs, 
or  obtain  water ;  but  nothing  has  been  preserved  respecting  his 
voyage,  except  that  his  ship  was  lost  near  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco, 
south  of  Cape  Mendocino. 

The  Spanish  government  was,  in  the  mean  time,  engaged  in 
devising,  and  applying  to  its  dominions  in  the  New  World,  those 
measures  of  restriction  and  exclusion,  which  were  pursued  so 
rigidly,  and  with  so  little  variation,  during  the  whole  period  of  its 
supremacy  in  the  American  continent.  The  great  object  of  this 
system  was  simply  to  secure  to  the  nnjiiarch  and  people  of  Spain 
the  entire  enjoyment  of  all  the  advantages  which  were  supposed  to 
be  derivable  from  those  dominions,  consistently  with  the  perpetual 
maintenance  of  absolute  authority  over  them  ;  and,  for  this  object,  it 


*  In  Hakluyt,  vol.  iii.  p.  526  tlip  lotter  from  Gali  to  the  vicoroy  is  given  at  length, 
as  "translated  out  of  the  original  Spanish  into  Dutch,  by  John  Huyghen  Van 
Linschoten,  and  out  of  Dutch  into  English."  In  Linschoten,  as  in  Hakluyt,  thirty- 
seven  and  a  half  degrees  is  given  as  the  northernmost  part  of  the  coast  seen  by  Gali. 

t  See  tlie  note  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes,  at  page 
46,  in  which  two  letters  from  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  to  the  king  of  Spain,  relative 
to  the  voyage  of  Gali,  are  mentioned  ;  but  the  account  there  given  differs  in  nothing, 
except  as  to  the  latitude,  from  that  in  the  letter  published  by  Linschoten  and  Hak- 
luyt. Humboldt  adopts  the  opinion  of  the  author  of  the  Introduction,  without, 
however,  adding  any  information  or  reasoning  on  the  subject. 


1570.] 


SPANISH    GOVERNMENT    OF    AMERICA. 


69 


was  deemed  expedient  not  only  to  exclude  the  subjects  of  other  Euro- 
pean states  from  the  territories  claimed  by  Spain,  —  that  is,  from  the 
whole  of  the  New  World  except  Brazil,  —  but  also  to  prevent  the 
rapid  development  of  the  resources  of  the  Spanish  provinces  them- 
selves.* In  these  views  the  Spaniards  have  not  been  singular ;  but 
no  other  power,  in  modern  times,  has  employed  measures  so  extreme 
in  fulfilling  them.  Thus  no  Spaniard  could  emigrate  to  America, 
no  new  settlement  could  be  formed  there,  and  no  new  country  or 
sea  could  be  explored,  without  the  express  permission  of  the  sov- 
ereign ;  and,  when  expeditions  for  discovery  were  made,  the  results 
were  often  concealed,  or  tardily  and  imperfecMy  promulgated.  No 
article  could  be  cultivated  or  manufactured  for  commerce  in  Amer- 
ica, which  could  be  imported  from  Spain ;  and  no  intercourse  could 
be  carried  on  between  the  difterent  great  divisions  of  those  posses- 
sions, or  between  either  of  them  and  the  mother  country,  except  in 
vessels  belonging  to  or  sjiecially  licensed  by  the  government,  or 
otherwise  under  its  immediate  supervision.  With  the  rest  of  the 
world,  the  Spanish  Americans  could  have  no  correspondence  ;  and 
all  foreigners  were  prohibited,  under  pain  of  death,  from  touching 
the  territories  claimed  by  Spain,  and  even  from  navigating  the  seas 
in  their  vicinity.  '•  Whoever,"  says  Hakluyt,  at  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  "  is  conversant  with  the  Portugal  and  Spanish 
writers,  shall  find  that  they  account  all  other  nations  for  pirates, 


i'l 


»ngth, 

Van 
^hirty- 

Gali. 

page 
blative 
(thing, 

Hak- 
tthout, 


*  The  Spanish  dominions  in  America,  togetlier  with  tlie  Canary  and  the  Philippine 
Islands,  formed  one  empire,  called  the  Indies,  of  which  the  king  of  Spain  was,  ex 
officio,  the  sovereign.  Tiie  territories  were  divided  into  great  sections,  or  kingdoms, 
each  entirely  indcpiMident  of  the  others,  except  in  cortain  prescribed  contingencies; 
the  general  direction  of  the  whole  being  committed  to  the  Supreme  Council  of  the 
Indies,  a  special  ministry,  residing  in  the  palace  of  the  king,  in  whose  name  all  its 
orders  were  issued.  The  larger  kingdoms  of  the  Indies  were  under  the  immediate 
government  of  riceroys,  representing  the  authority  and  person  of  the  sovereign ;  the 
others  were  governed  by  captains-general,  or  by  presidents,  whose  powers  were 
more  limited.  All  these  high  oHicers  were,  however,  kept  in  check  by  the  courts 
called  .iudiencias,  resembling  the  Supreme  Council  in  their  organization  and 
attributes,  one  or  two  of  which  were  established  in  each  kingdom.  The  commerce 
of  those  countries  was  under  the  superintendence  of  a  board,  called  the  House  of 
Contracts  of  the  Indies,  sitting'at  Seville,  to  and  from  which  port  all  expeditions,  from 
and  to  America,  were,  for  a  long  time,  obliged  to  pass. 

The  laws  and  regulations  of  the  Supreme  Council  were,  from  time  to  time,  revised ; 
and  those  which  were  to  remain  in  force  were  published  in  a  collection  entitled  the 
Rccopilacion  de  Leijes  de  Indias,  (Compilation  of  Laws  of  the  indies,)  containing 
the  rules  for  the  conduct  of  all  the  otHcers  of  the  government.  The  provisions  of 
this  celebrated  code  are,  in  general,  remarkable  for  their  justice  and  humanity  ;  the 
enforcement  of  them,  being,  however,  left  to  those  who  had  no  direct  interest  in  the 
prosperity  and  advancement  of  the  country,  was  most  shamefully  neglected. 


■    'il 


m 


m 


Eu 


w    i 


^11: 


I 


W 


»• 


n 


70 


FREE  TRADERS  AND  FRERHOOTERS. 


[1570. 


rovers,  and  thieves,  which  visit  any  hcathtMi  coast  that  they  have 
sailed  by  or  looked  on." 

Against  these  exclusive  regulations  the  English  and  the  French 
at  first  murmured  and  protested,  and  then  began  to  act.  The 
English  government,  having  thrown  oil'  its  allegiance  to  the  head  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  church,  denied  the  validity  of  the  Spanish 
claims  founded  on  the  papal  concessions,  and  itii^uired  from  Spain 
the  recognition  of  the  rights  of  Englishmen  to  a  a  igate  any  part  of 
the  ocean,  to  settle  in  any  country  not  occupied  by  another  Chris- 
tian nation,  and  to  trade  with  the  Spanish  American  provinces. 
These  demands  having  been  resisted,  Queen  Elizabeth  *  openly,  as 
well  as  covertly,  encouraged  her  subjects,  even  in  time  of  peace,  to 
violate  regulations  which  she  pronounced  unjustifiable  and  inhuman ; 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  West  Indian  seas  were,  in  conse- 
quence, haunted  by  bands  of  daring  English,  who,  under  the 
equivocal  denominations  of  free  traders  and  freebooters,  set  at 
defiance  the  prohibitions  of  the  Spaniards,  as  to  commerce  and 
territorial  occupation,  and  plundered  their  ships,  and  the  towns  on 
their  coasts.  About  the  same  time,  the  French  Protestants  began 
their  attempts  to  plant  colonies  in  Florida  and  Carolina,  which  were 
not  defeated  without  considerable  expenditure  of  Spanish  blood  and 
treasure ;  and  the  revolt  in  the  Netherlands,  which  ended  in  the 
liberation  of  the  Dutch  provinces,  soon  after  produced  a  formidable 
addition  to  the  forces  of  these  irregular  enemies  of  Spain.  The 
efforts  of  the  English,  and  of  their  government,  to  establish  com- 
merce with  the  Spanish  dominions  in  America,  Imve,  in  fact,  been 
the  principal  causes  or  motives  of  nearly  all  the  wars  between  those 
nations  since  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  In  these  efforts 
the  English  hive  constantly  persevered ;  and  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment has  resolutely  opposed  them,  during  peace,  during  war,  and 


*  Queen  Elizabeth's  reply  to  the  Spanish  ambassador,  who  complained  of  the 
plunder  of  one  of  his  povereign's  vessels  by  the  English,  in  the  West  Indies,  during 
pi'ace  between  tho  two  nations,  is  characteristic  of  her  disposition,  as  well  as  reason- 
able. She  said  "  that  the  Spaniards  had  drawn  these  inconveniences  upon  themselves, 
by  their  severe  and  unjust  dealings  in  their  American  commerce;  for  she  did  not 
understand  why  either  her  subjects,  or  those  of  any  other  European  prince,  should 
be  debarred  from  traffic  in  the  Indies ;  that,  as  she  did  not  acknowledge  the  Spaniards 
to  have  any  title,  by  donation  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  so  she  knew  no  right  they  had 
to  any  places  other  than  those  they  were  in  actual  possession  of;  for  that  their 
having  touched  only  here  and  there  upon  a  coast,  and  given  niimes  to  a  few  rivers 
c  capes,  were  such  insignificant  things  as  could  in  no  ways  entitle  them  to  a  pro- 
priety farther  than  in  the  parts  where  they  actually  settled,  and  continued  to  inhabit." 
—  Camden's  Annals  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  Reign,  for  1580. 


1570.] 


ALARMS    AND    PH0IIIBITI0N9    OF    THE    SPANIARDS. 


71 


bf  the 


oven  during  alliance  between  the  two  powers,  until  the  last  moment 
of  the  existence  of  the  Spanish  authority  in  the  American  continent. 

Could  Spain  have  so  long  retained  the  possession  of  her  colonies 
in  America,  if  she  had  adopted  any  other  system  with  regard  to 
them? 

The  Pacific  was,  for  some  years,  preserved  from  the  ravages  of 
these  daring  adventurers,  by  the  dread  of  the  difficulties  and 
dangers  attending  the  passage  of  vessels  into  that  ocean,  from  the 
Atlantic,  through  the  Strait  of  Magellan ;  and  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment began  to  regard  us  bulwarks  of  defence  those  natural 
obstacles  to  maritime  intercourse  between  Europe  and  the 
western  sidr  of  America,  to  remove  or  counteract  which  so  many 
efforts  had  been  previously  made.  Thenceforward,  the  expeditions 
of  the  Spaniards,  in  search  of  new  channels  connecting  the  two 
oceans,  were  undertaken  only  with  the  object  of  securing  the 
passage,  if  it  should  be  f'  i,  against  the  vessels  of  other 
nations ;  and  the  heaviest  peiiultics  were  denounced  against  all 
persons  who  should  attempt,  or  even  propose,  to  form  artificial 
comnmnications  by  canals  across  the  continent.*  These  circum- 
stances, on  the  other  hand,  served  to  stimulate  the  enemies 
of  Spain  in  their  endeavors  to  discover  easier  routes  to  the  Pacific ; 
to  efTect  which,  the  Dutch  and  the  English  navigators  perseveringly 
labored,  during  the  latter  years  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  centuries. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  reports  of  the  extent  and  value  of  the 
Spanish  commerce  on  the  Pacific,  and  of  the  wealth  accumulated 
in  the  towns  on  the  American  coasts  of  that  ocean,  overcame  all 
the  fears  of  the  English,  who  at  length  spread  their  sails  on  its 
waters,  and  carried  terror  and  desolation  along  its  coasts. 


*  Alcedo,  in  his  Geographical  and  Historical  Dictionary  of  the  West  Indies,  under 
the  head  Isthmus,  says,  "  In  tl.?  time  of  Philip  II.,  it  was  proposed  to  cut  a  canal 
through  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  for  the  passage  of  ships  from  one  ocean  to  the 
uthor ;  and  two  Flomisii  engineers  were  sent  to  examine  the  place,  with  that  object. 
They,  however,  found  the  obstacles  insuperable ;  and  the  Council  of  the  Indies  at 
the  same  time  represented  to  the  king  the  injuries  which  such  a  canal  would  occasion 
to  the  monarchy ;  in  consequence  of  which,  his  majesty  decreed  that  no  one  should 
in  future  attempt,  or  even  propose,  such  an  undertaking,  under  pain  of  death." 

The  same  author,  speaking  of  the  River  Jitrato,  in  New  Granada,  emptying  into 
the  Atlantic, — between  which  and  the  San  Juan,  falling  into  the  Pacific,  it  was  also 
proposed  to  make  a  canal,  —  says,  "  The  Atrato  is  navigable  for  many  leagues ;  but 
all  persons  are  forbidden,  under  pain  of  death,  from  navigating  it,  in  order  to  prevent 
the  injuries  which  New  Grenada  would  sustain,  from  the  facility  thus  afforded  for 
entering  it$  territory." 


11 


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72 


VOYAGE    OF    DRAKE. 


[1577. 


mr 


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I'!;':  ^  '!.' 

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t 

The  first  irruption  of  the  EngHsh  into  the  Pacific  was  made  in 
1575,  by  a  party  of  freebooters  under  John  Oxenham,  who  crossed 
the  isthmus  a  little  west  of  Panama,  and,  having  then  built  a  vessel 
on  the  southern  side,  took  many  valuable  prizes  before  any  attempt 
could  be  made,  by  the  Spaniards,  to  arrest  their  progress.  They, 
however,  in  a  few  months,  fell  successively  into  the  hands  of  their 
enemies,  and  were  nearly  all  executed  with  ignominy  at  Panama. 
Their  fall  was,  three  years  afterwards,  signally  avenged  by  another 
body  of  their  countrymen,  under  the  command  of  the  greatest 
naval  captain  of  the  age.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  this 
captain  could  be  no  other  than  Francis  Drake,  of  whose  celebrated 
voyage  around  the  world  —  the  first  ever  performed  by  one  crew  in 
one  vessel  —  an  account  will  be  here  given,  as  he,  in  the  course 
of  it,  visited  the  north-west  side  of  America,  and  is  supposed, 
though  erroneously,  as  will  be  proved,  to  have  made  important 
discoveries  in  that  quarter. 

Drake  sailed  from  Plymouth  on  the  13th  of  December,  1577, 
with  five  small  vessels,  which  had  been  procured  and  armed  by 
himself  and  other  private  individuals  in  England,  ostensibly  for 
a  voyage  to  Egypt,  but  really  for  a  predatory  cruise  against  the 
dominions  and  subjects  of  Spain.  The  governments  of  England 
and  Spain  were  then,  indeed,  at  peace  with  each  other :  but  mutual 
hatred,  arising  from  causes  already  explained,  prevailed  between  the 
two  nations ;  and  the  principles  of  general  law  or  morals  were  not, 
at  that  period,  so  refined  as  to  prevent  Queen  Elizabeth  from  favor- 
ing Drake's  enterprise,  with  the  real  objects  of  which  she  was  well 
acquainted. 

For  some  months  after  leaving  England,  Drake  roved  about  the 
Atlantic,  without  making  any  prize  of  value :  he  then  refitted  his 
vessels  at  Port  San  Julian,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Patagonia ;  and 
he  succeeded  in  conducting  three  of  them  safely  through  the  dread- 
ed Strait  of  Magellan,  into  the  Pacific,  which  he  entered  in  Sep- 
tember, 1578.  Scarcely,  however,  was  this  accomplished,  ere  the 
little  squadron  was  dispersed  by  a  storm ;  and  the  chief  of  the 
expedition  was  left  with  only  a  schooner  of  a  hundred  tons'  burden, 
and  about  sixty  men,  to  prosecute  his  enterprise  against  the  power 
and  wealth  of  the  Spaniards  on  the  western  side  of  America. 

Notwithstanding  these  disheartening  occurrences,  Drake  did  not 
hesitate  to  proceed  to  the  parts  of  the  coast  occupied  by  the  Span- 
iards, whom  he  found  unprepared  to  resist  him,  either  on  land  or  on 
He  accordingly  plundered  their  towns  and  ships  with  little 


out  the 
ted  his 
l;  and 
dread- 
n  Sep- 
ere  the 
of  the 
urden, 
power 

• 

lid  not 

Span- 

or  on 

Lh  little 


1579.] 


VOTAGE    OF    DRAKE. 


78 


difficulty ;  and  so  deep  and  lasting  was  the  impression  produced  by 
his  achievements,  that,  for  more  than  a  century  afterwards,  his  name 
was  never  mentioned  in  those  countries  without  exciting  feelings  of 
horror  and  detestation. 

At  length,  in  the  spring  of  1579,  Drake,  having  completed  his 
visitation  of  the  Spanish  American  coasts,  by  the  plunder  of  the 
town  of  Guatulco,  on  the  south  side  of  Mexico,  and  filled  his  vessel 
with  precious  spoils,  became  anxious  to  return  to  England ;  but, 
having  reason  to  expect  that  the  Spaniards  would  intercept  him, 
if  he  should  attempt  to  repass  Magellan's  Strait,  he  resolved  to 
seek  a  northern  route  to  the  Atlantic.  Accordingly,  on  quitting 
Guatulco,  he  steered  west  and  north-west,  and,  having  sailed  in 
those  directions  about  1400  leagues,  he  had,  in  the  beginning  of 
June,  advanced  beyond  the  42d  degree  of  north  latitude,  where 
his  men,  being  thus  "  speedily  come  out  of  the  extreme  heat,  found 
the  air  so  cold,  that,  being  pinched  with  the  same,  they  complained 
of  the  extremity  thereof."  He  had,  in  fact,  reached  the  part  of 
the  Pacific,  near  the  American  coasts,  where  the  winds  blow  con- 
stantly and  violently,  during  the  summer,  from  the  north  and  north- 
west, accompanied,  generally,  by  thick  fogs,  which  obscure  the 
heavens  for  many  days,  and  even  weeks,  in  succession ;  and,  find- 
ing these  difficulties  increase,  as  he  went  farther,  "  he  thought  it 
best,  for  that  time,  to  seek  the  land."  He  accordingly  soon  made 
the  American  coast,  and  endeavored  to  approach  it,  so  as  to  anchor ; 
but,  finding  no  proper  harbor  there,  he  sailed  along  the  shore  south- 
ward, until  the  17th  of  the  month,  when  "  it  pleased  God  to  send 
him  into  a  fair  and  good  bay,  within  38  degrees  towards  the  line."  * 

In  this  bay  the  English  remained  five  weeks,  employed  in  re- 
fitting their  vessel,  and  obtaining  such  supplies  for  their  voyage 
as  the  country  oflered.  The  natives,  "  having  their  houses  close  by 
the  water's  side,"  at  first  exhibited  signs  of  hostility :  but  they 
were  soon  conciliated  by  the  kind  and  forbearing  conduct  of  the 
strangers ;  and  their  respect  for  Drake  increased,  so  that,  when 
they  saw  him  about  to  depart,  they  earnestly  prayed  him  to  con- 
tinue among  them  as  their  king.  The  naval  hero,  though  not 
disposed  to  undertake,  in  person,  tho  duties  of  sovereignty  over  a 

*  These  quotations  are  from  the  Famous  Voyage  of  Sir  Francis  Drake,  by  Francis 
Pretty,  one  of  the  crew  of  Drake's  vessel,  written  at  the  request  of  Hakluyt,  and 
published  by  him  in  1589.  It  is  a  plain  and  succinct  account  of  what  the  writer  taw, 
or  believed  to  have  occurred,  during  the  voyage,  and  bears  all  the  marks  of  troth 
and  authenticity. 

10 


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74 


NEW    ALBION. 


■M  I 


Fr  (  f*4' 


J'l- 


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lli:'^ 


[1579. 


tribe  of  naked  or  skin-clad  savages,  nevertheless  "  thought  not 
meet  to  reject  the  crown,  because  he  knew  not  what  honor  or  profit 
it  might  bring  to  his  own  country ;  whereupon,  in  the  name,  and 
to  the  use,  of  her  majesty  Queen  Elizabeth,  he  took  the  crown, 
sceptre,  and  dignity,  of  the  country  into  his  own  hands,  wishing 
that  the  riches  and  treasure  thereof  might  be  so  conveniently 
transported,  for  the  enriching  her  kingdom  at  home."  The  coro- 
nation accordingly  took  place,  with  most  ludicrous  solemnities, 
which  are  gravely  described  with  minuteness,  in  the  accounts  of  the 
voyage ;  and  Drake,  having  assumed  the  dignity  and  title  of  Hioh, 
bestowed  on  his  dominions  the  name  of  ^'ew  Albion. 

The  vessel  having  been  refitted,  Drake  erected  on  the  shore  a 
pillar,  bearing  an  inscription,  commemorating  the  fact  of  this 
cession  of  sovereignty ;  and,  on  the  22d  of  July,  he  took  leave  of 
his  new-made  subjects,  to  their  great  regret.  Having,  however,  by 
this  time,  abandoned  all  idea  of  seeking  a  northern  passage  to  the 
Atlantic,  he  sailed  directly  across  the  Pacific,  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
Philippine  Islands;  and  thence,  pursuing  the  usual  course  of  the 
Portuguese,  through  the  Indian  Seas,  and  around  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  he  arrived  at  Portsmouth,  with  his  booty  undiminished,  on 
the  26th  of  September,  1580. 

With  regard  to  the  harbor  on  the  North  Pacific  side  of  America, 
in  which  Drake  repaired  his  vessel,  nothing  can  be  learned  from  the 
accounts  of  his  expedition  which  have  been  j)ublished,  except  that  it 
was  situated  about  the  38th  degree  of  latitude,  and  that  a  cluster  of 
small  islets  lay  in  the  ocean,  at  a  short  distance  from  its  mouth  ;  and 
this  description  will  apply  equally  to  the  great  Bai/  of  San  Francisco, 
and  to  the  small  Bay  of  Bodega,  a  few  leagues  farther  north. 

As  to  tlie  extent  of  the  portion  of  the  north-west  coast  of 
America  seen  by  Drake,  considerable  diflfercnce  of  opinion  exists. 
In  the  earliest,  and,  apparently,  the  most  authentic,  account  of  the 
expedition,*  the  vessel  is  represented  as  being  in  the  4JM  degree  of 
latitude,  on  the  5th  of  June,  about  which  day  it  was  determined  to 
seek  the  land ;  but  when,  and  under  what  parallel  of  latitude,  the 
American  coast  was  first  seen,  is  not  stated.  In  another  account, 
compiled  long  after  the  period  of  the  voyage,  it  is  said  that  the 
vessel  was  in  latitude  of  42  degrees  on  the  3d  of  June,  and  that, 
on  the  5th  of  the  same  month,  she  anchored  near  the  shore,  in  a 
"  bad  bay,"  in  latitude  of  48  degrees,  from  which  being  soon  driven 

*  The  Famous  Voyage,  by  Pretty. 


MP : 


'mi 


1579.]    PART    OF    THE    NORTH-WEST    COAST    SEEN    BV    DRAKE.  75 

by  the  violence  of  the  winds,  she  ran  along  the  coast  southward,  to 
the  harbor  near  the  38th  degree,  where  she  was  refitted.'* 

Thus  the  two  accounts  are  at  variance,  with  regard  to  the  vessel's 
position  on  the  5th  of  June,  on  or  about  which  day,  it  is  most 
probable,  from  both,  that  the  land  was  first  seen.  Hakluyt,  who 
seems  to  have  taken  great  interest  in  the  geography  of  the  North 
Pacific  coasts  of  America,  and  to  have  endeavored  to  obtain  the 
most  correct  information  as  to  the  occurrences  of  Drake's  voyage, 
gives  the  43d  degree  of  latitude,  in  several  parts  of  his  works,  as 
tJje  limit  of  his  countrymen's  discoveries  in  that  quarter ;  and 
Purchas,  in  his  Pilgrims,  first  published  in  1617,  declares  expressly 
that  "  Sir  Francis  Drake  sailed,  on  the  otjjer  side  of  America,  to  43 
degrees,  and,  with  cold,  was  forced  to  retire." 

On  the  contrary,  the  famous  navigator  John  Davis,  in  his 
World's  Hydrographicul  Discovery,  published  in  1595,  asserted 
that,  "after  Sir  Francis  Drake  was  entered  into  the  South  Sea, 
he  coasted  all  the  western  shores  of  America,  until  he  came  into 
the  septentrional  latitude  of  48  degrees ; "  and  Sir  William  Mon- 
son,  another  great  naval  authority  of  the  following  century,  says, 
in  his  Naval  Tracts,  'From  the  16th  of  April  to  the  15th  of 
June,  Drake  sailed,  without  seeing  land,  and  arrived  in  48  degrees, 
thinking  to  find  a  i>assage  into  our  seas,  which  land  he  named 
New  Albion.''''  The  opinion  of  Davis  cannot,  however,  be  received 
as  of  much  value  ;  for  it  is  by  no  one  rise  pretended,  that  Drake 
saw  any  part  of  the  west  coast  of  America,  between  Guatulco,  near 
the  16th  degree,  and  the  harbor  in  which  he  refitted  his  ship,  near 
the  38th  :  and,  unfortunately  for  Sir  William  Monson's  consistency, 
he  maintains,  in  other  parts  of  his  Tracts,  that  '•  Cape  Mendocino 
(near  the  40th  parallel)  is  the  farthest  land  discovered,"  and  "  the 
farthermost  known  land."  Burney,  who  has  examined  the  question 
at  length,  in  his  History  of  Voyages  in  the  South  Sea,  pronounces 
that  "  the  part  of  the  coast  discovered  by  Drake  is  to  be  reckoned 
as  beginning  immediately  to  the  north  of  Cape  Mendocino,  and 
extending  to  48  degrees  of  north  latitude  ;  "  considering  as  explicit 
on  the  subject  the  statement  in  the  latter  of  the  two  accounts  of  the 

*  Tho  World  Encompassotl  by  Sir  Francis  Drake,  collpc-ted  out  of  the  Notrs  of 
Mr.  Frannis  Fletcher,  Preacher,  in  this  F.mploynient,  and  compared  with  divers  others' 
Notes  that  went  in  the  same  Voyage.  It  was  first  published  in  Xii'i'^,  and  may  be 
found  entire  in  Osborne's  Collection  of  Voyages,  vol.  ii.  p.  434.  It  is  long  and 
diffuse,  and  is  filled  with  speculations,  most  probably  by  the  compiler,  on  various 
subjects ;  yet  it  contains  scarcely  a  single  fact  not  related  in  the  Famous  Voyage, 
from  which  many  sentences  and  paragraphs  are  taken,  verbatim,  while  others  convey 
the  s.ame  meaning  in  different  words. 


:-i!iE| 


76  PART    OF    THE    NORTH-WEST    COAST    SEEN    BY    DRAKE.    [1579. 


i-  '' 


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voyage*  above  cited,  that  the  EngHsh  "searched  the  coast  dili- 
gently, even  into  the  48th  degree  ;  yet  they  found  not  the  land  to 
trend  so  much  as  one  point,  in  any  place,  toward  the  east."  Bur- 
ney,  however,  omits  to  notice  the  remainder  of  the  sentence, — 
"  but  rather  running  on  continually  north-west,  as  if  it  went  directly 
to  meet  with  Asia,"  —  which  entirely  destroys  the  value  of  the 
evidence  in  the  first  part,  as,  in  fact,  the  coast  nowhere,  between 
the  40th  and  the  48th  degrees  of  latitude,  runs  north-west,  its 
course  being  nearly  due  north. 

On  examining  the  two  accounts  of  Drake's  voyage,  many  cir- 
cumstances will  be  found,  in  contradiction  of  the  belief  that  the 
English,  in  1579,  disco\ered  the  American  coast  as  far  north  as  the 
48th  degree  of  latitude.  In  the  first  place,  it  would  be  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  for  any  vessel  to  sail,  in  two  days,  through  six 
degrees  of  latitude,  northward,  with  the  wind,  as  we  are  assured  by 
both  accounts,  blowing  constantly  and  violently  from  the  north  and 
north-west ;  and  much  confidence  cannot  be  placed  on  assertions  as 
to  latitude,  based  on  observations  made  in  a  vessel,  on  a  stormy  sea, 
with  imperfect  instruments,  and  when  the  atmosphere  was  generally 
charged  with  thick  fogs.  It  is  also  to  be  observed,  that  the  account 
on  which  is  founded  the  belief  that  Drake  did  reach  the  48th 
degree,  contains  statements,  with  respect  to  the  intensity  of  the 
cold  in  the  North  Pacific,  so  entirely  at  variance  with  the  results  of 
universal  experience,  that  they  cannot  be  regarded  as  otherwise  than 
false.  That  men,  suddenly  transferred  from  the  tropics  to  a  region 
north  of  the  40tli  degree  of  latitude,  should  find  the  change  of 
temperature  disagreeable,  is  consonant  with  reason ;  but  the  asser- 
tion that  ropes  were  stilTcned  by  ice,  and  that  meat,  as  soon  as  it 
was  removed  from  the  fire,  became  frozen,*  in  any  part  of  the 
ocean  between  the  40th  and  the  48th  parallels  of  north  latitude,  in 
the  month  of  June,  must  be  condemned  as  an  intentional  untruth. 

In  conclusion,  although  there  is  no  positive  evidence  that  Drake 
did  not,  in  1579,  discover  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  to  the 
48th  degree  of  latitude,  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  assertion  that 
he  did  so,  is  not  supported  by  sufficient  evidence  ;  and,  where  origi- 
nally made,  it  is  accompanied  by  statements  certainly  erroneous,  and 
calculated  to  destroy  the  value  of  the  whole  testimony.  It  may  be 
admitted  that  the  coast  between  the  43d  and  the  38th  degrees  was 
seen  by  the  English  in  1579;  but  it  is  certain  that  this  same  coast 
had  been  already  seen,  in  1543,  by  the  Spaniards,  under  Ferrelo. 


•  The  World  Encompassed. 


1578.] 


CAVENDISH  S    EXPEDITION. 


77 


ie,  in 
iruth. 
>rake 
the 
that 
)rigi- 
\,  and 
ly  be 
was 
I  coast 


The  success  of  Drake's  enterprise  encouraged  other  English 
adventurers  to  attempt  similar  expeditions  through  the  Straits  of 
Magellan ;  and  it  stimulated  the  navigators  of  his  nation  in  their 
efforts  to  discover  northern  passages  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Of 
their  predatory  excursions,  none  were  attended  with  success,  except 
that  of  the  famous  Thomas  Cavendish,  or  Candish,  who  rendered 
his  name  almost  as  terrible  to  the  Spaniards  as  that  of  Drake,  by 
his  ravages  on  the  west  coasts  of  America,  during  his  voyage  of 
circumnavigation  of  the  globe,  in  1587.  In  this  voyage.  Cavendish 
lay,  for  some  time,  near  Cape  San  Lucas,  the  southern  extremity 
of  California,  and  there  captured  the  Manilla  galleon  Santa  Anna, 
on  her  way,  with  a  rich  cargo  of  East  India  goods,  to  Acapulco, 
which  he  set  on  fire,  after  plundering  her,  and  landing  her  crew  on 
the  coast.  The  unfortunate  Spaniards,  thus  abandoned  in  a  desert 
country,  must  soon  have  perished,  had  they  not  succeeded  in 
repairing  their  vessel,  which  was  driven  ashore  near  them,  after  the 
extinction  of  the  flames  by  a  storm,  and  sailing  in  her  to  a  port  on 
the  opposite  coast  of  Mexico.  Among  these  persons  were  Juan 
de  Fuca  and  Sebastian  Vizcaino,  of  each  of  whom  much  will  be 
said  in  this  chapter. 

About  this  time,  the  search  for  northern  passages  of  communi- 
cation between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  Oceans  was  begun  bv 
the  English  ;  *  and  it  was  prosecuted  at  intervals,  by  the  navigators 
of  that  nation  and  of  Holland,  during  nearly  sixty  years,  after 
which  it  was  abandoned,  or  rather  suspended.  In  the  course  of 
the  voyages  undertaken  for  this  object,  eastward  as  well  as  west- 
ward from  the  Atlantic,  many  ini))ortant  geographical  discoveries 
and  improvements  in  the  art  and  science  of  navigation  were 
effected ;  and  the  persons  thus  engaged  acquired  an  honorable  and 
lasting  reputation,  by  their  skill,  perseverance  against  difficulties, 
and  contempt  of  dangers.  The  Spanish  government  was,  at  the 
same  period,  according  to  the  direct  testimony  derived  from  its 
official  acts,  and  the  accounts  of  its  historians,  kept  in  a  state  of 
constant  alarm,  by  these  efforts  of  its  most  determined  foes  to 
penetrate  into  an  ocean  of  which  it  claimed  the  exclusive  posses- 
sion ;  and  the  uneasiness  thus  occasioned  was,  from  time  to  time, 
increased,  by  rumors  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  dreaded 
discovery. 

These  rumors  were,  for  the  most  part,  in  confirmation  of  the 

*  The  first  voyage  made  from  England,  with  the  express  object  of  seeking  a  north 
west  passage  to  the  Pacific,  was  that  of  Martin  Frobisher,  in  1576. 


'I 


;i;!l 


r 
I 

I 

1(1. 
I- 


^1 


I') 


'1  . 


m 


I- 


>m 


78 


REPORTED    DISCOVEKV    OF    URDANETA. 


[1560. 


existence  of  the  passage  calltMl  the  Strnit  of  Anian,  joining  the 
Atlantic,  under  the  (JOth  parallel  of  north  latitude,  throu{,'h  which 
Cortereal  was  said  to  have  sailed,  in  1 500,  into  a  ij;reat  western  sea ; 
and  those  who  pretended  to  have  made  northern  voyages  from  either 
ocean  to  the  other,  generally  asserted  that  they  had  jiassed  through 
the  Strait  of  Anian.  The  accoimts  of  all  such  voyages  yet  made 
public  are  now  known  to  be  as  false,  with  regard  to  the  princl|)al 
circumstances  related,  as  those  of  the  discovery  of  the  philosopher's 
stone  and  the  elixir  vita^,  current  at  the  same  p<!riod  in  Europe ; 
and  the  former,  like  the  latter,  had  their  origin,  generally,  in  the 
knavery  or  the  vanity  of  their  authors,  though  some  of  them  were 
evidently  mere  fictions,  invented  for  the  purpose  of  exercising 
ingeiuiity,  or  of  testing  the  credulity  of  the  public.  But,  as  the 
conviction  of  the  possibility  of  transnuiting  all  otiier  metals  into 
gold,  and  of  prolonging  life  intletinitcly,  led  to  the  knowledge  of 
many  of  the  most  important  facts  in  chemistry,  so  did  the  belief  in 
the  existenc<!  of  a  north-west  p^assage  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  serve  to  accelerate  the  progress  of  geographi(;al  discovery 
and  scientific  navigation. 

Among  those  w  ho  were  earliest  beli(>ved  to  have  accomplished 
northern  voyages  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  or  via;  versa,  was 
the  celebrated  Friar  Andres  de  L'rdaneta,  the  disc<nerer  of  the  mode 
of  navigating  the  Pa»;ific  from  east  to  west.  "One  Salvatierra,  a 
gentleman  of  Victoria,  in  Spain,  that  came  by  chance  out  of  the 
West  Irxlies  into  Ireland,  in  1")()H,"*  there  assured  Sir  Tfumphrey 
Gilbert  and  Sir  Henry  Sydney,  that  Urdaneta  had,  more  than 
eight  years  jmnious,  told  iiim,  in  Mexico,  *•  that  he  came  from  Mar 
del  Sur  [the  Pacific]  into  (icrmany  through  the  northern  passage, 
and  showed  Salvatierra  a  sea-card,  [chart,]  made  by  his  own  expe- 
rience and  travel  in  that  voyage,  wherein  was  plainly  set  down  and 
described  the  north-west  passage."  This  was,  however,  most  proba- 
bly, a  falsehood  or  amplification  on  the  j)art  of  Salvatierra,  to  induce 
Sir  Humphrey  to  employ  him  on  a  voyage  which  he  then  projected, 
as  nothing  appears  in  the  history  or  character  of  Urdaneta  to  justify 
the  belief  that  he  would  have  made  such  a  declaration.  In  the 
archives  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,f  which  have  been  examined 

*  "  A  Discourse  to  prove  a  Passage  by  the  North-West  to  C'athaia  [Cliina]  and  the 
East  Indies,  l)y  Sir  lluiniihrey  (Jilbert,"  first  |)ul>Iished  in  ir>7(»,  and  republished  by 
llakluyt,  in  liis  "  Voyages,  Navifjations,  Tratno.s,  and  Discoveries,  of  the  English 
Nation."     See  tlie  reprint  of  Hakluyt,  vol.  iii.  p.  '.i2. 

t  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes,  p.  36. 


IS, 


l,'i|  hi- 


158S.] 


PRKTKNDKO  VOYAGE  OF  MALDONAOO. 


79 


iphrcy 
than 
ti  Mar 
lassatjo, 
expe- 
m  and 
proba- 
I  induce 
hjoctod, 
justify 
in  tlie 
unined 


and  the 

lllshed  by 

English 


with  reference  to  tliis  matter,  are  many  original  papers  l)y  Urdaneta, 
in  which  he  mentions  a  report,  tliat  some  Frenchmen  had  sailed 
from  the  Atlantic,  beyond  th(^  70th  deforce  of  north  latitude,  through 
a  passage  opening  into  the  Pacific,  near  the  50th  degree,  and  thence 
to  China;  and  he  reconunends  that  measures  should  be  taken, 
without  delay,  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  the  report,  and,  if  the 
passage  should  be  found,  to  establish  fortifications  at  its  mouth,  in 
order  to  prevent  other  nations  from  using  it  to  the  injury  of 
Spain. 

In  1 574,  an  old  pilot,  named  Juan  Ladrillero,  living  at  Colima, 
in  Mexico,  pretended  that  he  had,  in  his  youth,  sailed  through  a 
passage,  from  the  Atlantic,  near  Newfoundland,  into  the  Pacific ; 
and  other  assertions,  to  the  same  eft'ect,  were  made  by  various  other 
individuals,  either  from  a  desire  to  attract  notice,  or  with  the  view 
of  obtaining  emolument  or  employment. 

The  most  celebrated  fiction  of  this  class  is  the  one  of  which 
Loren/.o  Ferrer  de  Maldonado  is  the  hero.  This  person,  a  Portu- 
guese by  birth,  who  had  written  some  extravagant  works  on 
geography  and  navigsition,  and  pretended  to  have  discovered  a 
magnetic  needle  without  variation,  presented  to  the  Council  of  the 
Indies,  in  1609,  a  memoir  or  narrative  of  a  voyage  from  Lisbon  to 
the  Pacific,  through  seas  and  channels  north  of  America,  which  he 
declared  that  he  himself  had  accomplished  in  1588,  accompanied 
by  a  petition  that  he  should  be  rewarded  for  his  services,  and  be 
intrusted  with  the  ronmiand  of  forces,  to  occupy  the  passage,  and 
defend  its  entrance  against  other  nations.  This  proposition  was 
in;  tantly  rejected  by  the  Council :  but  some  of  the  papers  relating 
to  it  were  retained ;  and  two  manuscripts  are  now  preserved,  the 
one  in  the  library  of  the  duke  of  Infantado,  at  Madrid,  the  other 
in  the  Ambrosian  library,  at  Milan,  each  purporting  to  be  the  origi- 
nal memoir  presented  by  Maldonado. 

These  papers  are  each  entitled  '•  A  Relation  of  the  Discovery  of  the 
Strait  of  Anian,  made  by  me,  Captain  Lorenzo  Ferrer  de  Maldonado, 
in  the  Year  1588  ;  in  which  is  described  the  Course  of  the  Navigation, 
the  Situation  of  the  Place,  and  the  Manner  of  fortifying  it ; "  and 
their  contents  are  nearly  the  same,  except  that  the  Milan  paper 
is,  in  some  places,  more  concise  than  the  other,  from  which  it  seems 
to  have  been,  in  a  manner,  abridged.  Upon  the  whole,  there  is 
reason  to  believe  the  Madrid  document  to  be  a  true  copy  of  the 
memoir  presented  by  Maldonado ;  though  it  has  been  pronounced, 
by  one  who  has  examined  the  subject  with  much  care,  to  be  a 


!,;i,] 


.';v:iii 


•  I  :i' 


■a  ^ 

I'd 

I  ' 

f' 

:  ''1 

'    ,  : 

I    '*'■ 
1     I 

'.      ■ 


60 


PllETENDEU    VOYAGE    OF    MALUONADO. 


[1588. 


V 

'41 
■'ipl- 


fabrication  of  a  later  date*  Whether  the  fabrication,  as  it  un- 
doubtedly is,  proceeded  froin  Muldoiuido,  or  from  some  other 
person,  is  of  no  im|)ortunce  at  the  present  day.  A  few  extracts 
will  serve  to  show  its  general  character,  and  to  bring  to  view  the 
opinions  entertained  in  Euro|)e,  during  the  seventeenUi  century, 
with  regard  to  the  northern  parts  of  America. 

After  stating  the  advantages  which  Hpuin  might  derive  from  a 
northern  passage  between  the  two  oceans,  and  the  injury  which  she 
might  sustain,  were  it  left  open  to  other  nations,  Muldonado  proceeds 
thus  to  describe  the  voyage :  — 

"Departing  from  Spain,  —  suppose  from  Lisbon,  —  the  course 
is  north-west,  for  the  distance  of  450  leagues,  when  the  ship  will 
have  reached  the  latitude  of  60  degrees,  where  the  Island  of 
Friesland  f  will  be  seen,  cominordy  called  File,  or  Fuk :  it  is  an 
island  somewhat  smaller  than  Ireland.  Thence  the  course  is  west- 
ward, on  the  parallel  of  (iO  dcgre(;s,  for  180  leagues,  which  will 
bring  the  navigator  to  the  la:ul  of  Labrador,  where  the  strait  of  that 
name,  or  Davis's  Strait,  begins,  the  entrance  of  which  is  very  wide, 
being  somewhat  more  than  30  leagues :  the  land  on  the  coast  of 
Labrador,  which  is  to  the  west,  is  very  low ;  but  the  opposite  side 
of  the  mouth  of  the  strait  consists  of  very  high  mountains.  Here 
two  openings  appear,  between  which  are  these  high  mountains. 
One  of  the  passages  runs  east-north-east,  and  the  other  north- 
west ;  the  one  running  east-north-east,  which  is  on  the  right  hand, 
and  looks  towards  the  north,  must  be  left,  as  it  leads  to  Greenland, 
and  thence  to  the  Sea  of  Friesland.  Taking  the  other  passage,  and 
steering  north-west  80  leagues,  the  ship  will  arrive  in  the  latitude 

*  See  a  review,  supposed  to  be  written  by  Harrow,  of  the  manuscript  found  at 
Milan  by  Carlo  Amoretli,  in  th*-  London  Quarterly  Review  for  October,  181G.  A 
translation  of  the  most  material  parts  of  that  paper  may  be  found  in  Burney's 
History  of  Voyages  in  the  Pacific,  vol.  '>,  p.  167.  A  translation  of  the  whole  of  the 
Madrid  document,  with  copies  of  the  maps  and  plans  annexed  to  it,  is  given  by 
Barrow,  at  the  conclusion  of  his  Chronological  History  of  Voyages  in  the  Arctic 
Regions.  See,  also,  the  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiiino  and  Valdes.  p.  49. 
The  reviewer  above  mentioned  "  suspects  this  pretended  voyage  of  Maldonado  to  be 
the  clumsy  and  audacious  forgery  of  some  ignorant  German,  from  tiie  circumstance 
of  15  leagues  to  the  degree  being  used  in  some  of  the  computations;"  but  the 
courses  are  not  laid  down  with  so  much  exactness  in  the  account,  as  to  warrant  the 
assertion  tliat  1.")  leagu(>s  are  employed,  instead  of  17.J,  which  would  have  been  the  true 
subdivision  of  the  degree  of  latitude  in  Spanish  leagues. 

t  An  island  of  this  name  was  long  supposed  to  exist  near  the  position  here  assigned 
to  it,  on  the  faith  of  an  apocryphal  account  of  some  voyages  which  were  said  to 
have  been  made  in  the  North  Atlantic  about  the  year  1400,  by  the  brothers  Antonio 
and  Nicolo  Zeno,  of  Venice.  F'ricsland  has  been,  by  some,  considered  as  identical 
with  the  Feroe  Islands. 


588. 


1588.] 


PRETENDED  VOYAGE  OF  MALOOViDO. 


81 


t  un- 
olher 
tracts 
V  the 
itury, 

rom  a 
;h  she 
jceeds 

course 

lip  will 

nd  of 

t  is  an 

s  West- 
ell will 

of  that 

y  wide, 

oast  of 

ite  side 

.     Here 

luntains. 
north- 
t  hand, 
onland, 
<re,  and 
latitude 

found  at 
liei6.    A 

Burnoy's 
[)le  of  the 
J  given  by 
|he  Arctic 

J.-8,  p.  49. 

Lado  to  be 

Innistance 
but  the 

Irrant  the 

In  the  true 

assigned 

Ire  said  to 

Antonio 

identical 


of  64  degrees.  There,  the  strait  takes  another  turn  to  the  north, 
continuing  one  hundred  and  twenty  leagues,  as  far  as  the  latitude 
of  70  degrees,  when  it  again  turns  to  the  north-west,  and  runs  in 
that  direction  ninety  leagues,  to  the  75th  degree  of  latitude,  near 
which  the  whole  of  the  Strait  of  Labrador  will  have  been  passed ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  strait  begins  at  60  degrees,  and  ends  at  75  de« 
grees,  being  two  hundred  and  ninety  leagues  in  length,  and  having 
three  turns,  the  first  and  last  of  which  run  north-west  and  south- 
east, and  the  middle  one  north  and  south,  being  sometimes  narrower 
than  twenty  leagues,  and  sometimes  wider  than  forty,  and  contain- 
ing many  bays  and  sheltering  places,  which  might  be  of  service  in 
cases  of  necessity.         #*##*##* 

"  Having  cleared  the  Strait  of  Labrador,  we  began  to  descend 
from  that  latitude,  steering  west-south-west,  and  south-west,  three 
hundred  and  fifty  leagues,  to  the  71st  degree  of  latitude,  when  we 
perceived  a  high  coast,  without  being  able  to  discover  whether  it 
was  part  of  the  continent,  or  an  island  ;  but  we  remarked  that,  if  it 
were  the  continent,  it  must  be  opposite  the  coast  of  New  Spain. 
From  this  land  we  directed  our  course  west-south-west  four  hundred 
and  forty  leagues,  until  we  came  to  the  60th  degree,  in  which  par- 
allel we  discovered  the  Strait  of  Anian.         *  #  *         # 

"  The  strait  which  we  discovered  in  60  degrees,  at  the  distance  of 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ten  leagues  from  Spain,  appears, 
according  to  ancient  tradition,  to  be  that  named  by  geographers,  in 
their  maps,  the  Strait  of  Anion ;  and,  if  it  be  so,  it  must  be  a  strait 
having  Asia  on  the  one  side,  and  America  on  the  other,  which  seems 
to  be  the  case,  according  to  the  following  narration  :  — 

"  As  soon  as  we  had  cleared  the  strait,  we  coasted  along  the  shores 
of  America  for  more  than  one  hundred  leagues  south-westward,  to 
the  55th  degree  of  latitude,  on  which  coast  there  were  no  inhab- 
itants, nor  any  opening,  indicating  the  vicinity  of  another  strait, 
through  which  the  South  Sea,  flowing  into  the  North,  might  insulate 
that  part ;  and  we  concluded  that  all  that  coast  belonged  to 
America,  and  that,  continuing  along  it,  we  might  soon  reach  Qui- 
vira  and  Cape  Mendocino.  We  then  left  this  coast,  and,  sailing 
towards  the  west  four  days,  with  the  wind  a-beam,  so  that  we  made 
thirty  leagues  a  day,  we  discovered  a  very  high  land,  and  continued 
along  the  coast,  from  which  we  kept  at  a  safe  distance,  always  in  the 
open  sea,  sailing,  at  one  time,  to  the  north-east,  at  others  towards 
north-north-east,  and  again  to  the  north,  whence  it  seemed  to  us 
that  the  coast  ran  north-east  and  south-west.  We  were  unable 
U 


n 


82 


PRETENDED  VOYAGE  OF  MALDONADO. 


[1588. 


"i^l 


1  'i 


to  mark  any  particular  pointn,  on  ncconnt  of  our  distancn  from 
tho  land ;  and  wc  can,  therefore,  only  affirm  that  it  is  inhabited, 
nearly  to  the  entrance  of  the  strait,  as  we  saw  smoke  rising  up  in 
many  places.  This  country,  according  to  the  charts,  must  belong  to 
Tartary,  or  Cathaia,  [China ;]  and  at  the  distance  of  a  few  leagues 
from  the  coast  must  be  the  famed  city  of  Cambalu,  the  metropolis 
of  Tartary.  Finally,  having  followed  the  direction  of  this  coast, 
we  found  ourselves  at  the  entrance  of  the  same  strait  of  Anian, 
which,  fifteen  days  before,  we  had  passed  through  to  the  open  sea; 
this  we  knew  to  be  the  South  Sea,  where  arc  situated  Japan, 
China,  the  Moluccas,  India,  New  Guinea,  and  the  land  discovered 
by  Captain  Quiros,  with  all  the  coast  of  New  Spain  and  Peru.  *  * 

"The  Strait  of  Anian  is  fifteen  leagues  in  length,  and  can 
easily  be  passed  with  a  tide  lasting  six  hours ;  for  those  tides 
are  very  rapid.  There  are,  in  this  length,  six  turns,  and  two 
entrances,  which  lie  north  and  south ;  that  is,  bear  from  each  other 
north  and  south.  The  entrance  on  the  north  side  (through  which 
we  passed)  is  less  than  half  a  quarter  of  a  league  in  width,  and 
on  each  side  are  ridges  of  high  rocks ;  but  the  rock  on  the  side  of 
Asia  is  higher  and  steeper  than  the  other,  and  hangs  over,  so  that 
nothing  falling  from  the  top  can  reach  its  base.  The  entrance  into 
the  South  Sea,  near  the  harbor,  is  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  league 
in  width,  and  thence  the  passage  runs  in  an  oblique  direction, 
increasing  the  distance  between  the  two  coasts.  In  the  middle  of 
the  strait,  at  the  termination  of  the  third  turn,  is  a  great  rock,  and 
an  islet,  formed  by  a  rugged  rock,  three  estadias  [about  one 
thousand  one  hundred  feetj  in  height,  more  or  less ;  its  form  is 
round,  and  its  diameter  may  be  two  hundred  paces ;  its  distance 
from  the  land  of  Asia  is  very  little ;  but  the  sea,  on  that  side,  is 
full  of  shoals  and  reefs,  and  can  only  be  navigated  by  boats.  The 
distance  between  this  islet  and  the  continent  of  America  is  less 
than  a  quarter  of  a  league  in  width ;  and,  although  its  channel  is  so 
deep  that  two  or  even  three  ships  might  sail  abreast  through  it,  two 
bastions  might  be  built  on  the  banks  with  little  trouble,  which 
would  contract  the  channel  to  within  the  reach  of  a  musket  shot. 

"In  the  harbor  in  which  our  ship  anchored,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  strait,  on  the  south  side,  we  lay  from  the  beginning  of  April  to 
the  middle  of  June,  when  a  large  vessel,  of  eight  hundred  tons' 
burden,  came  there  from  the  South  Sea,  in  order  to  pass  the  strait. 
Upon  this,  we  put  ourselves  on  our  guard ;  but,  having  come  to  an 
understanding  with  her,  I  found  them  willing  to  give  us  some 


I  : 


-i 


1588.] 


PRETENDED  VOYAGE  OF  MALDONADO. 


83 


#  * 


is  less 
Id  is  so 
it,  two 
which 
\t  shot. 
|nce  of 
ipril  to 
tons' 
strait, 
to  an 
some 


of  their  merchandise,  the  greater  part  of  which  consisted  of  articles 
similar  to  those  manufactured  in  China,  such  as  brocades,  silks,  porce- 
bin,  feathers,  precious  stones,  pearls,  and  gold.  These  people 
seemed  to  bo  Ilanseatics,  who  inhabit  the  Bay  of  St.  Nicholas,  or 
the  port  of  St.  Michael,  [Archangel,  on  the  White  Sea.]  In  order 
to  understand  one  another,  we  were  forced  to  speak  Latin,  those  of 
our  party  who  understood  that  language  talking  with  ♦Iiosc  on  board 
the  ship  who  were  also  ac(|uainted  with  it.  They  did  not  seem  to 
be  Catholics,  but  Lutherans.  They  said  they  came  from  a  large  city, 
more  than  one  hundred  leagues  from  the  strait ;  and,  though  I  cannot 
exactly  remember  its  name,  I  think  tiiey  called  it  Ro/ir,  or  somo 
such  name,  which  they  said  had  a  good  harbor,  and  a  navigable 
river,  and  was  subject  to  the  great  khan,  as  it  belonged  to  Tarlary, 
and  that,  in  that  port,  they  left  another  ship  belonging  to  their 
country.  We  could  learn  no  more  from  them,  ot  they  acted  with 
great  caution,  and  little  confidence,  being  afraid  of  our  company ; 
wherefore  we  parted  from  them,  near  the  strait,  in  the  North  Sea, 
and  set  sail  towards  Spain." 

The  preceding  extracts,  from  a  translation  of  the  manuscript  at 
Madrid,  will  sutfice  to  show  the  course  which  the  Portuguese  pre- 
tended to  have  taken,  in  158d.  The  remainder  of  the  |)aper  is 
devoted  to  descriptions  of  the  supposed  strait,  and  plans  for  its 
occupation  and  defence  by  Spain  ;  nothing  being  said  as  to  tlie 
circumstances  which  induced  the  navigators  to  return  to  Europe  by 
the  same  route,  instead  of  pursuing  their  course  to  some  Spanish 
port  on  the  Pacific.  It  is  needless  to  use  any  arguments  to  pnive 
that  no  such  voyage  could  have  been  ever  made ;  as  we  know  that 
the  only  connection  by  water  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific, 
north  of  America,  is  through  the  Arctic  Sea  and  Bering's  Strait, 
which  latter  passage  is  more  than  sixteen  leagues  in  width,  and  is  sit- 
uated near  the  65th  degree  of  latitude.  It  has,  however,  been  sug- 
gested, and  it  is  not  iniprobable,  that,  before  the  period  when 
Maldonado  presented  his  memoir  to  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  some 
voyage,  of  which  we  have  no  account,  may  have  been  made  in  the 
North  Pacific,*  as  far  as  the  entrance  of  the  gulf  called  Cook's 
Inlet,  and  that  this  entrance,  situated  under  the  60th  parallel  of 
latitude,  may  have  been  supposed,  by  the  navigator,  to  be  the 
western  termination  of  the  long-sought  Strait  of  Anian. 

The  story  certainly  attracted  considerable  attention  at  the  time 

*  Article  on  the  north-west  passage,  in  the  Quarterly,  for  Oo.tober,  1816,  above 
mentioned. 


I 


'<\    !('') 


•1, 
•I'li 


;  i^ii 


'■if!' 

•  ,<',i 


Wi\ 


84 


STORT    OF    THE    VOYAGE    OF    FONTE. 


[1640. 


when  it  was  put  forth,  and  allusions  are  made  to  it  by  several 
Spanish  authors  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  it  had,  however,  been 
entirely  forgotten  when  the  French  geographer  M.  Buache,  having 
obtained  a  copy  of  the  Madrid  manuscript,  endeavored  to  establish 
the  truth  of  the  most  material  points,  in  a  paper  read  by  him  before 
the  Academy  of  Sciences,  at  Paris,  on  the  13th  of  November, 
1790.  At  his  request,  the  archives  of  the  Indies  were  examined, 
in  search  of  documents  relating  to  the  supposed  voyage ;  and  the 
commanders  of  Spanish  ships,  then  employed  in  the  surveying 
the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  were  instructed  to  endeavor 
to  find  the  entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Anian,  near  the  60th 
degree  of  latitude.  These  endeavors  proved  vain,  and  the 
name  of  Maldonado  had  again  sunk  into  oblivion,  when  it  was 
again,  in  1812,  brought  before  the  world  by  Signor  Amoretti,  of 
Milan,  who  found,  in  the  Ambrosian  library,  in  that  city,  the  man- 
uscript already  mentioned,  and  published  a  French  translation  of 
it,  with  arguments  in  support  of  the  truth  of  its  contents.  So  far 
as  is  known,  the  falsehoods  of  Maldonado  have  injured  no  one, 
and  they  were  ultimately  productive  of  great  good ;  for  it  was 
while  engaged,  by  order  of  the  Spanish  government,  in  examining 
the  archives  of  the  Indies  respecting  this  pretended  voyage,  that 
Navarrete  found  those  precious  documents,  relating  to  the  expedi- 
tions of  Columbus  and  other  navigators  of  his  day,  which  have  thrown 
so  much  light  on  the  history  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 

Similar  good  effects  have  been  produced  by  the  story  of  the 
voyage  of  Admiral  Pedro  Bartolome  de  Fonte,  from  the  Pacific 
to  the  Atlantic,  through  lakes  and  rivers  extending  across  North 
America,  wl  'ch  may  also  be  here  mentioned,  though  it  belongs 
properly  to  a  later  period  of  the  history ;  as  the  voyage  was  said  to 
have  been  performed  in  1640,  and  the  account  first  appeared  in  a 
periodical  work  entitled  —  Monthly  Miscellany,  or  Memoirs  of  the 
Curious  —  published  at  London,  in  1708.  This  account  is  very 
confused,  and  badly  written,  and  is  filled  with  absurdities  and  con- 
tradictions, which  should  have  prevented  it  from  receiving  credit  at 
any  time  since  its  appearance :  yet,  as  will  be  shown,  it  was  seri-us- 
ly  examined  and  defended,  so  recently  as  in  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  by  eminent  scientific  men  ;  and  some  faith  continued  to 
be  attached  to  it  for  many  years  afterwards.  So  far  as  its  details 
can  be  understood,  they  are  to  the  following  effect :  — 

Admiral  Fonte  sailed  from  Callao,  near  Lima,  in  April,  1640, 
with  four  vessels,  under  orders,  from  the  viceroy  of  Peru,  to  repair 


V^' 


'1  I  IH 

1 


1640.] 


STORY    OF    THE    VOYAGE    OF    F0NT£. 


83 


to  the  North  Pacific,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring  its  American 
coasts,  and  of  intercepting  certain  vessels  which  were  reported  to 
have  been  equipped  at  Boston,  in  New  England,  in  search  of  a 
north-west  passage  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  From  Callao 
he  proceeded  to  Cape  San  Lucas,  where  he  detached  a  vessel  to 
explore  the  Californian  Gulf ;  thence,  continuing  his  voyage  along 
the  west  coast,  he  passed  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  leagues,  in 
crooked  channels,  among  a  collection  of  islands  called  by  him  the 
Archipelago  of  St.  Lazarus;  and  beyond  them  he  found,  under 
the  53d  degree  of  latitude,  the  mouth  of  a  great  river,  which  he 
named  Rio  de  los  Reyes  —  River  of  Kings.  Having  despatched  his 
lieutenant,  Bernardo,  with  one  vessel,  to  trace  the  coast  on  the 
Pacific  farther  north,  he  entered  the  great  river,  and  ascended  it 
north-eastward,  to  a  large  lake,  called,  from  the  beauty  of  its 
sliores,  Lake  Belle,  containing  many  islands,  and  surrounded  by  a 
fine  country,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  kind  and  hospitable. 
On  the  south  shore  of  the  lake  was  the  large  town  of  Conasset, 
where  the  admiral  left  his  vessels ;  thence  he  proceeded,  (in  what 
manner  he  does  not  say,)  with  some  of  his  men,  down  a  river 
called  the  Parmentier,  flowing  from  Lake  Belle  eastward  into 
another  lake,  to  which  he  gave  his  own  name,  and  thence,  through 
a  passage  called  the  Strait  of  Ronquillo,  in  honor  of  one  of  his 
captains,  to  the  sea. 

On  entering  the  sea,  the  admiral  learned,  from  some  Indians, 
''  that,  a  little  way  off*,  lay  a  great  ship,  where  there  had  never  been 
one  before  ;  "  and,  on  boarding  her,  he  found  only  an  old  man  and 
a  youth,  who  told  him  that  they  came  from  the  town  called  Boston, 
in  New  England.  On  the  following  day,  the  captain,  named 
Nicholas  Shapley,  arrived,  with  the  owner  of  the  ship,  Seymour 
Gibbons,  "a  fine  gentleman,  and  major-general  of  the  largest 
colony  in  New  England,  called  Maltechusetts,^^  between  whom  and 
the  admiral  a  struggle  of  courtesy  was  begun.  The  Spanish  com- 
mander had  been  ordered  to  make  prize  of  any  people  seeking  for 
a  north-west  or  a  west  passage ;  but  he  would  look  on  the  Bosto- 
nians  as  merchants,  trading  for  skins ;  so  he  made  magnificent 
presents  to  them  all,  and,  having  received,  in  return,  their  charts 
and  journals,  he  went  back  to  his  ships,  in  Lake  Belle,  and  thence, 
down  the  Rio  de  los  Reyes,  to  the  sea. 

In  the  njean  time,  the  lieutenant,  Bernardo,  had  ascended  another 
river,  called,  by  him,  Rio  de  Haro,  into  a  lake  named  Lake  Velasco, 
situated  under  the  6 1st  degree  of  latitude,  from  which  he  went,  in 


^^1 


■  m 


.-ii 


'V 


ri 


iMti: 


r:-  ) 


86 


VOYAGE    OF    JUAN    DE    FUCA. 


[1592 


canoes,  as  far  as  the  79th  degree,  where  the  land  was  seen,  '*  still 
trending  north,  and  the  ice  rested  on  the  land."  He  was  also  as- 
sured "that  there  was  no  communication  out  of  the  Atlantic  Sea  by 
Davis's  Strait ;  for  the  natives  had  conducted  one  of  his  seamen  to 
the  head  of  Davis's  Strait,  which  terminated  in  a  fresh  lake,  of  about 
thirty  miles  in  circumference,  in  the  80th  degree  of  north  latitude ; 
and  there  were  prodigious  mountains  north  of  it."  These  accounts, 
added  to  his  own  observations,  led  Admiral  Fonte  to  conclude  "  that 
there  was  no  passage  into  the  South  Sea  by  what  they  call  the  north- 
west passage ;  "  and  he  accordingly  returned,  with  his  vessels, 
through  the  Pacific,  to  Peru. 

Such  are  the  principal  circumstances  related  in  the  account  of 
Admiral  Fonte's  voyage,  which  was,  for  some  time  after  its  appear- 
ance, received  as  true,  and  copied  into  all  works  on  Northern 
America.  In  1750,  a  French  translation  of  the  account,  with  a 
chart  drawn  from  it,  and  a  memoir,  in  support  of  its  correctness, 
were  presented  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris  by  Messrs. 
Delisle  and  Buache,  in  consequence  of  which,  the  various  Spanish 
repositories  of  papers  respecting  America  were  carefully  examined, 
in  search  of  information  on  the  subject ;  and,  in  all  the  voyages  of 
discovery  along  the  north-west  coasts  of  the  continent,  during 
the  last  century,  endeavors  were  made  to  discover  the  mouth  of  the 
Rio  de  los  Reyes.  These  labors,  however,  were  vain.  The  exist- 
ence of  a  number  of  islands  near  the  position  assigned  to  the 
Archipelago  of  St.  Lazarus,  and  of  a  large  river,  (the  Stikine,) 
entering  the  ocean  near  the  56th  parallel,  indeed,  seems  to  favor 
the  supposition  that  some  voyage,  of  which  we  have  no  record, 
may  have  been  made  to  that  part  of  the  Pacific  before  1708 ;  but 
the  rivers  and  lakes  through  which  Fonte  was  said  to  have  passed  — 
his  town  of  Conasset — and  his  Boston  ship  —  are  now  generally 
believed  to  have  all  emanated  from  the  brain  of  James  Petiver,  a 
naturalist  of  some  eminence,  and  one  of  the  chief  contributors  to 
the  Monthly  Miscellany. 

The  account  of  the  voyage  and  discoveries  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  on 
the  north-western  side  of  America,  in  1592,  was,  for  a  long  time, 
considered  as  less  worthy  of  credit  than  those  above  noticed.  More 
recent  examinations  in  that  part  of  the  world  have,  however,  caused 
it  to  be  removed  from  the  class  of  fictions ;  although  it  is  certainly 
erroneous  as  regards  the  principal  circumstance  related.  All  the 
information  respecting  this  voyage  is  derived  from  ^'A  Note  made  by 
Michael  Lock,  the  elder,  touching  the  Strait  of  Sea  commonly  called 


J.'-   f. 


I 


1592.] 


VOYAGE    OF    JUAN    DE   FUCA. 


87 


Fretum  Anian,  in  the  South  Sea,  through  the  North-west  Passage  of 
Meta  Incognita"  —  published  in  1625,  in  the  celebrated  historical 
and  geographical  collection  called  The  Pilgrims,  by  Samuel 
Purchas.* 

Mr.  Lock  there  relates  that  he  met,  at  Venice,  in  April,  1596, 
"  an  old  man,  about  sixty  years  of  age,  called,  commonly,  Juan  de 
Fuca,  but  named,  properly,  Apostolos  Valerianos,  of  nation  a 
Greek,  born  in  Cephalonia,  of  profession  a  mariner,  and  an  ancient 
pilot  of  ships,"  who,  "  in  long  talks  and  conferences,"  declared  that 
he  had  been  in  the  naval  service  of  Spain,  in  the  West  Indies,  forty 
years,  and  that  he  was  one  of  the  crew  of  the  galleon  Santa  Anna, 
when  she  was  taken  by  Cavendish,  near  Cape  San  Lucas,  in  1587, 
on  which  occasion  "  he  had  lost  sixty  thousand  ducats  of  his  own 
goods."  After  his  return  to  Mexico,  he  was  despatched,  by  the 
viceroy,  with  three  vessels,  "to  discover  the  Strait  of  Anian,  along 
the  coast  of  the  South  Sea,  and  to  fortify  that  strait,  to  resist  the 
passage  and  proceeding  of  the  English  nation,  which  were  feared 
to  pass  through  that  strait  into  the  South  Sea."  This  expedition, 
however,  proving  abortive,  he  was  again  sent,  in  1592,  with  a  small 
caravel,  for  the  same  purpose,  in  which  "  he  followed  his  course 
west  and  north-west,"  along  the  coasts  of  Mexico  and  California, 
"  until  he  came  to  the  latitude  of  47  degrees ;  and,  there  finding 
that  the  land  trended  north  and  north-east,  with  a  broad  inlet  of 
sea,  between  47  and  48  degrees  of  latitude,  he  entered  thereinto, 
sailing  therein  more  than  twenty  days,  and  found  that  land  trending 
still  sometime  north-west,  and  north-east,  and  north,  and  also  east, 
and  south-eastward,  and  very  much  broader  sea  than  was  at  the 
said  entrance,  and  he  passed  by  divers  islands  in  that  sailing ;  and, 
at  the  entrance  of  this  said  strait,  there  is,  on  the  north-west  coast 
thereof,  a  great  head-land  or  island,  with  an  exceeding  high  pinna- 
cle, or  spired  rock,  like  a  pillar  thereupon.  *  *  *  *  Being  entered 
thus  far  into  the  said  strait,  and  being  come  into  the  North  Sea 
already,  and  finding  the  sea  wide  enough  every  where,  and  to  be 
about  thirty  or  forty  leagues  wide  in  the  mouth  of  the  straits,  where 
he  entered,  he  thought  he  had  now  well  discharged  his  office ;  and 
that,  not  being  armed  to  resist  the  force  of  the  savage  people  that 
might  happen,  he  therefore  set  sail,  and  returned  to  Acapulco." 

The  Greek  went  on  to  say  that,  upon  his  arrival  in  Mexico,  the  vice- 


11' 
...  '.\ 


*  The  whole  note  will  be  found  among  the  Proofs  and  lUuslralioTiSf  in  the  latter 
part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  A. 


88 


VOYAGE    OF    JUAN    DE    FUCA. 


[1592. 


i  r 


m't 


19  ■ 


Ml 

m 


m\ 


^■M 


'"■1.1    i 


* 


roy  had  welcomed  him,  and  promised  him  a  great  reward ;  but  that, 
after  waiting  in  vain  for  two  years,  he  had  stole  away  to  Europe, 
and,  "  understanding  the  noble  mind  of  the  queen  of  England,  and 
of  her  wars  against  the  Spaniards,  and  hoping  that  her  majesty 
would  do  him  justice  for  his  goods  lost  by  Captain  Candish,  he 
would  be  content  to  go  into  England,  and  serve  her  majesty  in  that 
voyage  for  the  discovery  perfectly  of  the  north-west  passage  into 
the  South  Sea,  if  she  would  furnish  him  with  only  one  ship  of  forty' 
tons'  burden,  and  a  pinnace ;  and  that  he  would  perform  it  in  thirty 
days'  time,  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  strait."  Mr.  Lock 
says  that,  on  receiving  this  account,  he  endeavored  to  interest  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  and  other  eminent  persons  in  England,  in  behalf 
of  the  Greek  pilot,  and  to  have  him  employed  on  a  voyage  such 
as  he  proposed  to  undertake  ;  but  he  was  unable  to  do  so,  and,  by 
the  last  accounts,  the  old  man  was  dying  in  Cephalonia,  in  1602. 

These  are  the  most  material  circumstances  respecting  Juan  de 
Fuca  and  his  voyage,  as  related  by  Mr.  Lock,  who  was  an  intelli- 
gent and  respectable  merchant  engaged  in  the  Levant  trade.* 
Other  English  writers,  of  the  same  time,  allude  to  the  subject ;  but 
they  afford  no  additional  particulars,  nor  has  any  thing  been  since 
learned,  calculated  to  prove  directly  even  that  such  a  person  as 
Juan  de  Fuca  ever  existed.  On  the  contrary,  the  author  of  the 
Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes,  who  loses  no 
opportunity  to  exalt  the  merits  of  his  countrymen  as  discoverers, 
after  examining  many  papers  in  the  archives  of  the  Indies,  relating 
to  the  period  given  as  the  date  of  the  voyage,  pronounces  the  whole 
to  be  a  fabrication.  The  account  attracted  little  attention  in  Eng- 
land, and  was  almost  unknown,  out  of  that  kingdom,  until  after 
the  publication  of  the  journals  of  the  last  expedition  of  Cook,  who 
conceived  that  he  had,  by  his  examinations  on  the  north-western 
coasts  of  America,  ascertained  its  falsehood.  More  recent  exami- 
nations in  that  quarter  have,  however,  served  to  establish  a  strong 
presumption  in  favor  of  its  authenticity  and  general  correctness, 
so  far  as  the  supposed  narrator  could  himself  have  known  ;  for 
they  show  that  the  geographical  descriptions  contained  in  it  are 
as  nearly  conformable  with  the  truth,  as  those  of  any  other  account 
of  a  voyage  written  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Thus  Juan   de  Fuca  says  that,    between   the  47th   and   48th 

*  He  was,  for  sonio  time,  the  Knglish  consul  at  Aloppo,  and  was  an  intimate  friend 
of  Hakluyt,  for  whom  ho  translated  the  Decades  of  Pedro  Martir,  and  furnished  other 
papers  published  by  that  collector. 


lilt      ;■<!>: 


'^'i 


1595.] 


CONFIRMATION  OF  FUCA  S  ACCOUNT. 


89 


degrees  of  latitude,  he  entered  a  broad  inlet  of  sea,  in  which  he 
sailed  for  twenty  days,  and  found  the  land  trending  north-west,  and 
north-east,  and  north,  and  east,  and  south-east,  and  that,  '<n  this 
course,  he  passed  numerous  islands.  Now,  the  fact  is,  that,  between 
the  48th  and  49th  degrees,  a  broad  inlet  of  sea  does  extend  from 
the  Pacific,  eastward,  apparently  penetrating  the  American  conti- 
nent to  the  distance  of  more  than  one  hundred  miles,  after  which 
it  turns  north-westward,  and,  continuing  in  that  direction  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  farther,  it  again  joins  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
The  differences  as  to  the  position  and  course  of  the  inlet,  between 
the  two  descriptions  here  compared,  are  few  and  slight,  and  are 
certainly  all  within  the  limits  of  supposable  error  on  the  part  of  the 
Greek,  especially  considering  his  advanced  age,  and  the  circum- 
stance that  he  spoke  only  from  recollection ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  coincidences  are  too  strong  to  be  attributable  only  to 
chance.  The  pilot,  indeed,  asserts  that  through  this  inlet  he  sailed 
to  the  Atlantic,  but  he  does  not  pretend  that  he  reached  any  known 
coast,  or  previously-determined  point  of  that  ocean ;  so  that  he  is 
liable  only  to  the  charge  of  having  made  an  erroneous  estimate  of 
the  extent  and  value  of  his  discovery,  which  he  might  well  have 
done,  without  any  intention  to  deceive^  as  the  breadth  of  the  North 
American  continent  was  then  unknown. 

Some  false  reports,  such  as  those  above  mentioned,  respecting 
the  discovery  of  a  northern  passage  between  the  two  oceans,  and 
the  existence  of  rich  nations  in  its  vicinity,  together  with  a  desire 
to  lessen  the  dangers  of  the  navigation  along  the  western  side  of 
California,  by  providing  the  ships  in  the  Philippine  trade  with  proper 
descriptions  of  the  coasts,  induced  King  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  in 
1595,  to  order  that  measures  should  be  taken  for  a  complete  survey 
of  it.*     There  were,  also,  other  reasons  for  examining  that  part  of 


^:| 


:v 


w'm 


'iik 


[tury. 
48th 

ate  friend 
lied  other 


*  "His  majesty  knew  that  tlie  viceroys  of  Mexico  had  endeavored  to  discover  a 
northern  passage ;  and  he  had  found,  among  his  father's  papers,  a  declaration  of 
certain  strangers,  to  tlie  effect  that  they  had  been  driven,  by  vioh^nt  winds,  from  the 
codfish  coast,  [about  Newfoundland,]  on  the  Atlantic,  to  the  South  Sea,  through  the 
Strait  of  Anian,  which  is  beyond  Cape  Mendocino,  and  had,  on  their  way,  seen  a 
rich  and  populous  city,  well  fortified,  and  inhabited  by  a  numerous  and  civilized 
nation,  who  had  treated  them  well ;  as  also  many  other  things  worthy  to  be  seen  and 
known.  His  majesty  had  also  been  informed  that  ships,  sailing  from  China  to  Mex- 
ico, ran  great  risks,  particularly  near  Cape  Mendocino,  where  the  storms  are  most 
violent,  and  that  it  would  be  advantageous  to  have  that  coast  surveyed  thence  to 
Acapulco,  BO  that  the  ships,  mostly  belonging  to  his  majesty,  should  find  places  for 
relief  and  refreshment  when  needed."  Whereupon,  his  majesty  ordered  the  count 
de  Monterey,  viceroy  of  Mexico,  to  have  those  coasts  surveyed,  at  his  own  expense, 
with  all  care  and  diligence,  &c.  —  Torquemada,  vol.  i.  p.  693. 


ti';- 


12 


■|l!' 


l,i 


90 


FIRST    VOYAGE    OF    V'ZCAINO. 


[1596. 


tm 


I.     ,' 


I    i 
■     i 


the  continent,  as  the  Spaniards  were  then  engaged  in  the  settlement 
of  New  Mexico,  or  the  country  traversed  by  the  River  Bravo  del 
Norte,  in  Wnich  their  colonies  extended  nearly  to  the  40th  degree 
of  latitude ;  and  they  had  no  clear  idea  of  the  distance  between 
that  region  and  the  Pacific. 

The  count  de  Monterey,  viceroy  of  Mexico,  in  consequence, 
despatched  three  vessels  from  Acapulco,  in  the  spring  of  1596, 
under  the  command  of  Sebastian  Vizcaino,  a  distinguished  officer, 
who  had  been  in  the  ship  Santa  Anna,  when  she  was  taken  and 
burnt  by  Cavendish,  off  Cape  San  Lucas.  Nothing,  however,  was 
gained  by  this  expedition.  For  reasons  of  which  we  are  not 
informed  by  the  Spanish  historians,  Vizcaino  did  not  proceed 
beyond  the  Californian  Gulf,  on  the  shores  of  which  he  endeavored 
to  plant  colonies,  first  at  a  place  called  St.  Sebastian,  and  after- 
wards at  La  Paz,  or  Santa  Cruz,  where  Cortes  had  made  a  similar 
attempt  sixty  years  before :  but  both  these  places  were  soon  aban- 
doned, on  account  of  the  sterility  of  the  surrounding  country,  and 
tlie  ferocity  of  the  natives ;  and  Vizcaino  returned  to  Mexico  before 
the  end  of  the  year.* 

The  viceroy  had  most  probably  hoped,  by  means  of  this  voyage, 
to  escape  the  infliction  of  the  heavy  expenses  of  an  expedition 
such  as  that  which  he  was  enjoined  to  make  by  the  royal  decree  ; 
but  King  Philip  IL  died  in  1598,  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the 
reign  of  his  successor,  Philip  IIL,  was  a  peremptory  order  for  the 
immediate  despatch  of  a  squadron  from  Mexico,  to  complete  the 
survey  of  the  west  coasts  of  the  continent,  agreeably  to  the  previous 
instructions.  The  viceroy  thereupon  commenced  preparations  for 
the  purpose  on  an  extended  scale  of  equipment.  Two  large  ships 
and  a  fragata,  or  small  vessel,  were  provided  at  Acapulco,  and 
furnished  with  all  the  requisites  for  a  long  voyage  of  discovery  ;  and, 
in  addition  to  their  regular  crews,  a  number  of  pilots,  draughtsmen, 
and  educated  priests,  were  engaged,  forming  together,  says  the 


[:* 


*  This  expedition  is  thus  noticed  by  Hakluyt,  vol.  iii.  p.  522 :  — 
"  We  have  seen  a  letter  written  the  8th  of  October,  1597,  at  a  town  called  Puebla 
de  los  Angeles,  eighteen  leagues  from  Mexico,  making  mention  of  the  islands  of  Cal- 
ifornia, situated  two  or  three  hundred  leagues  from  the  main  land  of  New  Spain,  in 
the  South  Sea,  as  that  thither  have  been  sent,  before  that  time,  some  people  to  con- 
quer them,  which,  with  loss  of  some  twenty  men,  were  forced  back,  after  that  they 
had  well  visited,  and  found  those  islands  or  countries  to  be  very  rich  of  gold  and 
silver  mines,  and  of  very  fair  Oriental  pearls,  which  were  caught,  in  good  quantity, 
upon  one  fathom  and  a  half,  passing,  in  beauty,  the  pearls  of  Margarita.  The  report 
thereof  caused  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  to  send  a  citizen  of  Mexico,  with  two  hundred 
men,  to  conquer  the  same." 


r^i 


1602.] 


SECOND    VOYAGE    OF    VIZCAINO. 


91 


Puebla 
.ofCal- 
Bpain,  in 
1  to  con- 
Jiat  they 
lold  and 
luantity, 
le  report 

liundred 


historian  Torquemada,  "  the  most  enlightened  corps  ever  raised  in 
New  Spain."  The  direction  of  the  whole  expedition  was  intrusted 
to  Sebastian  Vizcaino,  as  captain-general,  who  sailed  in  the  largest 
ship ;  the  other  being  commanded  by  Toribio  Gomez  de  Corvan, 
as  admiral  —  an  office  equivalent  in  rank  to  that  of  vice-admiral  in 
the  British  service:  the  fragata  was  under  ensign  Martin  de 
Aguilar.* 

All  things  being  prepared,  the  vessels  took  their  departure  from 
Acapulco  on  the  5th  of  May,  1602,  and,  after  many  troubles  and 
delays  at  various  places  on  the  Mexican  coast,  they  were  assembled 
in  the  small  Bay  of  San  Bernabe,  now  called  Port  San  Jose,  imme- 
diately east  of  Cape  San  Lucas,  the  southern  extremity  of  the 
Californian  peninsula.  There  they  remained  until  the  5th  of  July, 
when  they  rounded  the  cape,  and  the  survey  of  the  west  coast  was 
commenced  from  that  point.  The  prosecution  of  the  enterprise 
was  thenceforward  attended  by  constant  difficulties:  the  scurvy, 
as  usual,  soon  broke  out  among  the  crews ;  and  the  Spaniards  had 
their  courage  and  perseverance  severely  tried  by  their  "  chief 
enemy,  the  north-west  wind,"  which  was  raised  up,  says  Torque- 
mada, "  by  the  foe  of  the  human  race,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
advance  of  the  ships,  and  to  delay  the  discovery  of  those  countries, 
and  the  conversion  of  their  inhabitants  to  the  Catholic  faith." 

Vizcaino  and  his  followers,  however,  bore  up  nobly  against  all 
these  obstacles,  and  executed  the  duty  confided  to  them  most 
faithfully.  Proceeding  slowly  northward,  they  reached  the  exten- 
sive Bay  of  La  Magdalena,  between  the  24th  and  25th  parallels  of 
latitude,  of  which  Vizcaino's  survey  was,  until  recently,  the  only 
one  upon  record  ;  and  before  the  end  of  August,  the  vessels  which 
had  been  separated  almost  ever  since  quitting  Cape  San  Lucas, 
were  again  united  in  a  harbor  in  the  island  called  Isla  de  Cedros, 
or  Isle  of  Cedars,  by  Cabrillo,  but  now  generally  known  as  Isla  de 
Cerros,  or  Isle  of  Mountains.  Continuing  their  examination,  they 
found  a  bay  near  the  3 1st  degree  of  latitude,  which  they  named  the 
Port  of  the  Eleven  Thousand  Virgins,  now  called  Port  San  ^uintin, 
and  said  to  be  an  excellent  harbor ;  and  farther  north  they  entered 
the  Port  San  Miguel  of  Cabrillo,  to  which  they  assigned  the  appella- 

*  Torquemada,  vol.  i.  p.  694. —  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes, 
p.  60.  —  Torquemada's  accounts  are  derived  chiefly  from  the  Journal  of  Fray  An- 
tonio de  la  Asencion,  the  chaplain  of  one  of  the  ships.  The  author  of  the  Introduc- 
tion, &c.,  had  recourse  to  the  original  notes  of  the  expedition,  from  which  he  con- 
structed a  chart  of  the  coast  aorveyed. 


,  "IE 


i 


^\W] 


,'•  !:ll 


f :  m 


k 


I.'  f;  li ' ! 


1 ,   I'l:' 


92 


VIZCAINO    HEACHES    MONTEREY. 


[IC03. 


tion  of  Port  San  Diego.  There  Vizcaino  received  accounts,  from 
the  natives,  of  people  residing  in  the  interior,  who  had  beards, 
wore  clothes,  and  dwelt  in  cities ;  but  h'j  could  learn  no  further 
particulars,  and  was,  upon  the  whole,  inclined  to  believe  that, 
unless  the  Indians  were  deceiving  him,  these  people  must  be  the 
Spaniards  recently  settled  in  New  Mexico,  on  the  River  Bravo  del 
Norte. 

Having  minutely  surveyed  Port  San  Diego,  the  Spaniards  quitted 
it  on  the  1st  of  December,  and  sailed  through  the  Archipelago 
of  Santa  Barbara,  in  one  of  the  islands  of  which  Cabrillo  died 
sixty  years  previous ;  then  doubling  the  Cape  de  Galera  of  that 
navigator,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Cape  Conception,  now 
borne  by  it,  they  anchored,  in  the  middle  of  the  month,  in  a 
spacious  and  secure  harbor,  near  the  37th  parallel,  where  they 
remained  some  time,  engaged  in  refitting  their  vessels  and  obtaining 
a  supply  of  water.  This  harbor  —  the  Port  of  Pines  of  Cabrillo  — 
was  named  Port  Monterey  by  Vizcaino,  in  honor  of  the  viceroy  of 
Mexico ;  and  as,  before  reaching  it,  sixteen  of  the  crews  of  the 
vessels  had  died,  and  many  of  the  others  were  incapable  of  duty 
from  disease,  it  was  determined  that  Corvan,  the  admiral,  should 
return  to  Mexico  in  his  ship,  carrying  the  invalids,  with  letters  to  the 
viceroy,  urging  the  immediate  establishment  of  colonies  and  garrisons 
at  San  Diego  and  Monterey.  Corvan,  accordingly,  on  the  29th, 
sailed  for  Acapulco,  where  he  arrived  after  a  long  and  perilous 
voyage,  with  but  few  of  his  men  alive ;  whilst  Vizcaino,  with  his 
ship  and  the  fvagata,  prosecuted  their  exploration  along  the  coast 
towards  the  north. 

On  the  3d  of  January,  1603,  after  the  departure  of  Corvan, 
Vizcaino,  accompanied  by  the  small  vessel  under  Aguilar,  quitted 
Monterey ;  but,  ere  proceeding  much  farther  north,  they  were 
driven  back  by  a  severe  gale,  in  the  course  of  which  the  two 
vessels  were  separated.  The  ship  took  refuge  in  the  Bay  of  San 
Francisco,  which  seems  to  have  been  then  well  known  ;  and  search 
was  made  for  the  wreck  of  the  San  Augustin,  which  had  been  there 
lost,  as  already  mentioned,  in  1595,  during  her  voyage  from  the 
Philippine  Islands  to  Acapulco.  Finding  no  traces  of  that  vessel, 
Vizcaino  again  put  to  sea ;  and,  passing  a  promontory,  which  he  sup- 
posed to  be  Cape  Mendocino,  he,  on  the  20th  of  January,  reached 
a  high,  white  bluff,  in  latitude,  as  ascertained  by  solar  observation, 
of  42  degrees,  which,  in  honor  of  the  saint  of  that  day,  was  named 
Cape  San  Sebastian.     By  this  time,  few  of  his  men  were  fit  for 


:;  ,i' 


i 


1603.] 


VIZCAINO    RF.TURNS    TO    MEXICO. 


93 


were 
two 
^f  San 
search 
there 
kn  the 
i^essel, 
le  sup- 
lached 
mtion, 
lamed 
lilt  for 


service ;  the  weather  was  stormy,  the  cold  was  severe,  the  pro- 
visions were  nearly  exhausted ;  and,  as  the  small  vessel  did  not 
appear,  the  commander,  with  the  assent  of  his  officers,  resolved  to 
direct  his  course  towards  Mexico.  He  did  so,  and  arrived  at 
Acapulco  on  the  21st  of  March. 

The  fragata,  or  small  vessel,  also  reached  Mexico  about  the  same 
time,  having,  however,  lost,  by  sickness,  her  commander,  Martin  de 
Aguilar,  her  pilot,  Flores,  and  the  greater  part  of  her  ciew.  Tor- 
quemada's  account  of  her  voyage,  after  parting  with  Vizcaino's 
ship,  is  short,  and  by  no  means  clear ;  but  the  circumstances  therein 
related  have  attracted  so  much  attention,  that  a  translation  of  it 
should  be  here  presented.     The  historian  says, — 

"  The  fragata  parted  from  the  capitana,  [Vizcaino's  ship,]  and, 
supposing  that  she  had  gone  onward,  sailed  in  pursuit  of  her. 
Being  in  the  latitude  of  41  degrees,  the  wind  began  to  blow  from 
the  south-west ;  and  the  fragata,  being  unable  to  withstand  the 
waves  on  her  beam,  ran  before  the  wind,  until  she  found  shelter 
under  the  land,  and  anchored  near  Cape  Mendocino,  behind  a  great 
rock,  where  she  remained  until  the  gale  had  passed  over.  When 
the  wind  had  become  less  violent,  they  continued  their  voyage  close 
along  the  shore  ;  and,  on  the  19th  of  January,  the  pilot,  Antonio 
Flores,  found  that  they  were  in  the  latitude  of  43  degrees,  where 
the  land  formed  a  cape  or  point,  which  was  named  Cape  Blanco. 
From  that  point,  the  coast  begins  to  turn  to  the  north-west ;  and 
near  it  was  discovered  a  rapid  and  abundant  river,  with  ash-trees, 
willows,  brambles,  and  other  trees  of  Castile,  on  its  banks,  which 
they  endeavored  to  enter,  but  could  not,  from  the  force  of  the 
current.  Ensign  Martin  de  Aguilar,  the  commander,  and  Antonio 
Flores,  the  pilot,  seeing  that  they  had  already  reached  a  higher 
latitude  than  had  been  ordered  by  the  viceroy,  in  his  instructions, 
that  the  capitann  did  not  appear,  and  that  the  number  of  the  sick 
was  great,  agreed  to  return  to  Acapulco ;  and  they  did  so,  as  I 
shall  hereafter  show.  It  is  supposed  that  this  river  is  the  one 
leading  to  a  great  city,  which  was  discovered  by  the  Dutch  when 
they  were  driven  thither  by  storms,  and  that  it  is  the  Strait  of 
Anian,  through  which  the  ship  passed,  in  sailing  from  the  North 
Sea  to  the  South  Sea ;  and  that  the  city  called  Quivira  is  in 
those  parts  ;  and  that  this  is  the  region  referred  to  in  the  account 
which  his  majesty  read,  and  which  induced  him  to  order  this 
expedition." 

This  account  of  the  discovery  of  a  great  river,  near  the  43d 


1 


*.! 


ij 


4 


.1 


5  11 

rli,' 


4 


m 


94 


SUPPOSED    RIVER    OF    AGUILAR. 


[1603. 


I 


degree  of  latitude,  was,  for  a  long  time,  universally  credited,  and 
excited  many  speculations.  The  supposed  river  was  first,  as  Tor- 
quemada  says,  generally  believed  to  be  the  long-sought  Strait  of 
Anian.  It  was  then,  upon  the  strength  of  a  statement  made  by  the 
captain  of  a  Manilla  ship,  in  1620,  universally  considered  as  the 
western  mouth  of  a  passage,  or  channel,  connecting  the  ocean  with 
the  northern  extremity  of  the  Californian  Gulf ;  and,  accordingly, 
during  the  remainder  of  the  seventeenth  century,  California  was 
represented,  on  all  maps,  as  an  island,  of  which  Cape  Blanco  was 
the  northern  end.  When  this  error  had  been  corrected,  the  exist- 
ence of  a  great  river,  flowing  from  the  centre  of  America  into  the 
Pacific,  under  the  43d  parallel,  was  again  aflirmed  by  some  geogra- 
phers ;  while  others  again  placed  at  this  point  the  western  entrance 
of  a  passage  leading  to  the  Atlantic. 

It  is  now  certain  that  no  such  stream  or  channel  as  that  which 
Aguilar  is  reported  to  have  seen,  falls  into  the  Pacific  within  three 
degrees  of  the  43d  parallel ;  although  the  mouths  of  two  small 
rivers  are  situated  near  the  point  where  that  line  crosses  the  western 
coast  of  the  continent.  Several  head-lands  project  into  the  ocean, 
not  far  from  the  positions  assigned  to  the  Capes  Blanco  and  San 
Sebastian.  The  former  may  have  been  the  promontory,  in  latitude 
of  42  degrees  52  minutes,  on  which  Vancouver,  in  1792,  bestowed 
the  name  of  Cape  Orford. 

On  comparing  the  accounts  of  Vizcaino's  voyage  with  those  of 
Cabrillo's,  it  appears  that  the  same,  or  very  nearly  the  same,  por- 
tions of  the  American  coast  were  seen  by  both  commanders.  The 
expedition  of  Vizcaino  was,  however,  conducted  in  a  much  more 
efilicient  manner  than  the  other ;  and  a  mass  of  valuable  informa- 
tion, respecting  the  geography  of  the  western  side  of  California, 
was  collected,  in  the  shape  of  notes,  plans,  and  sketches,  upon 
which  were  founded  the  first  maps  of  that  coast  approaching 
to  correctness. 

Vizcaino,  after  his  return  to  Mexico,  endeavored  to  prevail  upon 
the  viceroy  to  establish  colonies  and  garrisons  on  the  western  side 
of  California,  at  places  which  he  recommended,  in  order  to  facili- 
tate the  trade  with  India,  and  to  prevent  the  occupation  of  the 
American  coasts  by  people  of  other  nations.  His  efforts,  with  this 
view,  however,  produced  no  effect,  as  the  viceroys  never  encouraged 
such  enterprises,  being  generally  obliged  to  pay  the  costs  them- 
selves; and  Vizcaino,  in  consequence,  went  to  Spain,  where,  after 
many  years  of  solicitation,  he  at  length  procured  the  royal  mandate, 


4 


1608.] 


DEATH    or   VIZCAINO. 


95 


i 


and  a  promise  of  means  for  the  execution  of  his  projects.  Armed 
with  these,  he  hastened  back  to  Mexico,  and  began  his  prepara- 
tions ;  but,  while  thus  engaged,  he  was  seized  with  a  sickness, 
of  which  he  died  in  1603,  and  the  enterprise  was  then  aban- 
doned. 

The  Spanish  government,  at  the  period  of  Vizcaino's  expeditions, 
appears,  indeed,  to  have  been  seriously  interested  in  the  exploration 
of  the  Pacific,  with  which  object  several  voyages  were  made  from 
Peru  and  Mexico.  In  1595,  Alvaro  de  Mendana  discovered  the 
group  of  islands  in  the  southern  division  of  that  ocean,  to  which  he 
gave  the  name  of  Mas  de  las  Marquesas,  (Islands  of  the  Mar- 
chionesses,) in  token  of  his  admiration  of  the  beauty  and  grace  of 
their  women.  In  1605,  Pedro  Fernandez  de  Quiros  visited  many 
other  islands  in  the  same  sea,  not  previously  known,  among  which 
were,  probably,  those  now  called  Otaheite  and  Owyhee :  he  also 
believed  that  he  had  ascertained  the  existence  of  a  great  southern 
continent,  which  he  named  Australia  del  Espiritu  Santo ;  and,  like 
Vizcaino,  he  spent  many  years  at  Madrid,  in  endeavors  to  obtain 
from  the  government  the  command  of  an  expedition  for  the  occu- 
pation of  this  new  land. 


m 


m^ 


■'  -I  41 


^m 


"iifi 


111 


1 


I'd 


'li  1 


96 


I'  ) 


CHAPTER    III. 


1608  TO  1768. 


The  North-Wcst  Coasts  of  North  Ainorira  ri'iimin  nearly  iiPglcctt-il  during  the  whole 
of  this  Period —  Efforts  of  the  (^nf^lisli  and  tiu<  Dutch  to  find  new  Passages  into 
the  Pacific  —  Discovery  of  lludoon'H  Day  and  liafiin's  Day  —  Discovery  of  the 
Passage  around  Cupe  llorn  —  EHtabiiKhnient  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Trading  Com- 
pany —  Endeavors  of  the  Spaniards  to  sctth-  California  unsuccessful  —  The 
Jesuits  undertake  the  Reduction  of  California —  Establishments  of  the  Jesuits  in 
the  Peninsula,  and  tliuir  Expulsion  from  the  Spanish  Dominions. 


.•H! 


n.^^ 


For  more  than  a  hundred  and  sixty  years  after  the  death  of 
Vizcaino,  no  attempt  was  made,  by  the  Spaniards,  to  form  estab- 
lishments  on   the  west  coast   of  California,  or   to  extend   their 
'discoveries  in  that  part  of  America. 

'  Those  countries,  in  the  mean  time,  remained  unknown,  and 
almost  entirely  neglected,  by  the  civilized  world.  The  Spanish 
galleons,  on  their  way  from  Manilla  to  Acapulco,  annually  passed 
along  the  coasts  south  o*"  Cape  Mendocino,  which  were  described 
in  Spanish  works  on  the  navigation  of  the  Pacific ;  and  some  spots, 
farther  north,  were,  as  will  be  hereafter  particularly  shown,  visited 
by  the  Russians,  in  their  exploring  and  trading  voyages  from  Kamt- 
chatka :  but  no  new  information,  of  an  exact  nature,  was  obtained 
with  regard  to  those  regions,  and  they  were  represented  on  maps 
according  to  the  fancy  of  the  geographer,  or  to  the  degree  of 
faith  which  he  placed  in  the  last  fabrication  respecting  them. 
Numerous  were  the  stories,  gravely  related  and  published  in  France 
and  England,  of  powerful  nations,  of  great  rivers,  of  interior 
seas,  and  of  navigable  passages  connecting  the  Atlantic  with  the 
Pacific,  north  of  California.  The  most  remarkable  of  these  stories 
is  the  account  of  the  voyage  of  Admiral  Fonte,  already  presented. 
Captain  Coxton,  a  veteran  bucanier,  who  flourished  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  also  declared  that  he  had,  in  1688, 
sailed  from  the  North  Pacific,  far  eastward,  into  the  American 
continent,  through  a  river  which  ran  out  of  a  great  lake,  called  the 
Lake  of  Thoyaga,  containing  many  islands,  inhabited  by  a  numerous 


ii'ir, , 


■A 


1616.]       Hudson's  pat  and  BArriN's  bat  discovcrcd. 


97 


and  warlike  population ;  and,  upon  the  strength  of  the  assertions  of 
this  worthy,  the  lake  and  river,  as  described  by  him,  were  laid  down 
on  many  of  the  maps  of  that  time.  North' west  America  was, 
indeed,  during  the  period  here  mentioned,  the  terra  incogmliss  ma, 
the  favorite  scene  of  extraordinary  adventures  and  Utopian  ro- 
mances. Bacon  there  placed  his  Atlantis ;  and  Brobdignag,  agree- 
ably to  the  very  precise  description  of  its  locality  furnished  by  its 
discoverer,  the  accomplished  and  veracious  Captain  Lemuel  Gulli- 
ver, must  have  been  situated  near  the  Strait  of  Fuca. 

The  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  its  American  coasts,  and  the  South 
Pacific,  were,  however,  not  neglected  by  the  Europeans  during  the 
seventeenth  century.  Soon  after  the  termination  of  Vizcaino'i 
labors,  settlements  were  made,  in  many  places  on  the  Atlantic, 
between  the  Gulfs  of  Mexico  and  of  St.  Lawrence,  by  the  English, 
the  French,  and  the  Dutch,  generally  under  the  protection  of  charters 
from  the  governments  of  those  nations,  in  which  the  territories  of 
the  several  colonies  were  declared  to  extend  from  the  Atlantic 
westward  to  the  Pacific ;  and  some  of  the  most  valuable  of  the 
West  India  Islands  had  fallen  into  the  possession  of  the  same 
powers. 

Many  discoveries  were  likewise  effected,  within  this  period,  on 
the  coasts  of  the  New  World,  and  in  the  adjoining  seas,  some 
of  which  were  of  great  and  immediate  importance,  while  the  others 
served  to  strengthen  the  expectation  that  a  north-west  passage,  or 
navigable  channel  of  communication  between  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Pacific,  north  of  America,  would  be  speedily  found.  Thus,  in 
1608,  Henry  Hudson  discovered,  or  rediscovered,  the  strait,  and 
the  bay  connected  by  it  with  the  Atlantic,  to  both  of  which  his 
name  is  now  attached  ;  and,  eight  years  afterwards,  the  adventu- 
rous William  Baflin  penetrated,  through  the  arm  of  that  ocean 
now  called  Baffin's  Bay,  separating  Greenland  from  America,  into  a 
passage  extending  westward,  under  the  74th  parallel  of  latitude, 
where  his  ship  was  arrested  by  ice. 

The  results  of  the  voyages  of  Baffin,  and  other  navigators,  who 
followed  the  same  course,  were  not  calculated  to  increase  the  hope 
that  the  desired  passage  to  the  Pacific  would  be  found  opening 
into  Baffin's  Bay.  Strong  grounds  were,  however,  afforded  for  the 
expectation  that  it  might  be  discovered  in  one  of  the  arms  of 
Hudson's  Bay  which  had  not  been  completely  explored ;  and,  in 
consequence,  the  whole  region  surrounding  the  latter  sea  was,  in 
1669,  granted,  by  King  Charles  II.,  to  an  association  of  merchantf 
13 


,1 


il 


iii 


.:■    ,1 


'       <i.", 


v\ 


'  '\ 


Vlti 


if 


98 


PASSAGE    AROUND    CAPE    HORN    DISCOVERED. 


[1616. 


^li 


},< 


'\  ■  . 


and  gentlemen,  styled — The  Company  of  Adventurers  of  England 
trading  into  Hudson's  Bay  —  with  the  object*  expressed  in  the 
charter,  of  encouraging  the  search  for  a  northern  passage  to  the 
Pacific. 

The  most  important  discovery  made  in  the  seventeenth  century 
was  that  of  the  open  sea,  south  of  Magellan's  Strait,  through  which 
the  Dutch  navigators  Lemaire  and  Van  Pchouten  sailed,  in  1616, 
from  the  Atlantic  into  the  Pacific,  around  the  island  promontory 
named  by  them  Cape  Horn,  in  honor  of  their  native  city  in 
Holland.  By  means  of  this  new  route,  the  perils  and  difficulties 
of  the  navigation  between  the  two  oceans  were  so  much  lessened, 
that  voyages  from  Europe  to  the  Pacific  were  no  longer  regarded 
as  very  hazardous  enterprises ;  and  the  Spanish  possessions  and 
commerce  on  that  ocean  were  ever  after  annoyed  by  the  armed 
siiips  of  nations  at  war  with  Spain,  or  by  pirates  and  smugglers  of 
various  classes  and  denominations. 

The  Gulf  of  California  became  the  principal  resort  of  the  Dutch 
pirates,  or,  rather,  privateers,  who,  under  the  name  of  Pichilingues,-\ 
kept  the  inhabitants  of  the  adjacent  coasts  of  Mexico  in  constant 
anxiety.  For  the  purpose  of  dislodging  these  depredators,  and  also 
of  obtaining  advantages  from  the  pearl  fishery  in  the  gulf,  several 
attempts  were  made,  by  the  government  of  Spain,  and  by  individ- 
uals in  Mexico,  to  establish  colonies,  garrisons,  and  fishing  or 
trading  posts,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  peninsula  of  California. 
The  details  of  the  expeditions  for  these  purposes,  made  by  Vicuna 
and  Ortega  in  1631,  by  Barriga  and  Porter  in  1644,  by  Piiiadero 
in  1664  and  1667,  by  Lucenilla  in  1668,  and  by  Atondo  in  1683, 
are  devoid  of  interest.  Many  pearls  were  obtained,  among  which 
are  some  of  the  most  valuable  in  the  regalia  of  Spain  ;  but  the 
establishments  all  failed  from  want  of  funds,  from  the  extreme 
barrenness  of  the  soil,  and  the  determined  hostility  of  the  natives 
of  the  peninsula,  and,  above  all,  from  the  indolence  and  viciousness 
of  the  persons  employed  in  the  expeditions.  In  the  last  attempt 
of  this  kind,  under  the  direction  of  Don  Isidro  de  Atondo,  a  number 
of  settlers,  soldiers,  and  Jesuits,  were  carried  out  from  Mexico,  and 
distributed  at  points  on  the  gulf  where  the  establishments  were  to 
be  formed  ;  but  these  stations  were  all  abandoned  before  the  end  of 
a  year,  and  it  was  thereupon  resolved,  in  a  council  of  the  chief 


*  See  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  under  the  letter    I,   No.  1. 

t  So  called  from  the  Bay  of  Pichilingue,  on  the  east  coast  of  the  Californian 
peninsula,  which  was  the  principal  rendezvous  of  these  Dutch  piratea. 


1683.] 


JESUITS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


99 


authorities  of  Mexico,  that  the  reduction   of  California  by  such 
means  was  impracticable. 

The  Jesuits,  who  had  accompanied  Atondo  to  California,  while 
concurring  in  this  opinion  with  the  council,  nevertheless  insisted 
that  the  desired  political  objects  might  be  attained  by  a  different 
course,  namely,  by  the  civilization  and  conversion  to  Christianity 
of  the  natives  of  that  country ;  and  this  task  they  offered  them- 
selves to  undertake,  dotibting  not  that  their  labors  would  be  crowned 
with  the  same  success  which  had  attended  them  in  Paraguay. 
Their  proposition  was,  as  might  have  been  expected,  coldly  received 
by  the  authorities,  who  could  gain  nothing  by  its  execution.  The 
Jesuits,  however,  not  being  disheartened  by  this  refusal,  perambu- 
lated the  whole  country,  preaching,  and  exhorting  all  to  contribute 
to  the  accomplishment  of  an  enterprise  so  pious  and  so  politic.  By 
such  means,  and  by  the  cooperation  of  their  brethren  in  Europe, 
they  raised  a  small  fund;  and  finally,  in  1697,  they  procured  royal 
warrants,  authorizing  them  to  enter  upon  the  reduction  of  Califorjiia 
for  the  king,  and  to  do  all  that  might  tend  to  that  object  at  their 
oivn  expense.  On  receiving  these  warrants,  Father  Salvutierra,  the 
chief  missionary,  immediately  sailed,  with  a  few  laborers  and  sol- 
diers, to  the  land  which  was  to  be  the  scene  of  their  operations. 
There  he  was  soon  after  joined  by  Fathers  Kuhn,  (a  German, 
called,  by  the  Spaniards,  Kino,)  Piccolo,  Ugarte,  and  others,  all 
men  of  courage  and  education,  and  enthusiastically  devoted  to  the 
cause  in  which  they  were  engaged ;  and,  in  November,  1697,  the 
first  establishment,  called  Lordo,  was  founded  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  peninsula,  about  two  hundred  miles  from  the  Pacific. 

The  Jesuits,  on  entering  California,  had  to  encounter  the  same 
perils  and  obstacles  which  had  rendered  ineffectual  all  the  other 
attempts  to  occupy  that  country.  They  were  attacked  by  the 
natives,  to  whose  ferocity  several  of  the  fathers  fell  victims ;  the 
land  was  so  barren,  that  it  scarcely  yielded  the  mtans  of  sustaining 
life  to  the  most  industrious  agriculturist,  for  which  reason  the  set- 
tlements were  all  located  near  the  sea,  in  order  that  the  necessary 
food  might  be  procured  by  fishing ;  and  the  persons  employed  in 
their  service,  being  drawn  from  the  most  miserable  classes  in 
Mexico,  were  always  indolent  and  insubordinate,  and  generally 
preferred  loitering  on  the  shore,  in  search  of  pearls,  to  engaging  in 
the  regular  labors  required  for  the  support  of  settlers  in  a  new 
region.  The  operations  of  the  Jesuits  were  also,  for  some  time, 
confined  within  the  narrowest  limits,  from  want  of  funds.    Their 


/•I! 


^fi:. 


ll 


11 


rm 


4\t 


-'>..  0(;^>/i.irit.' 


■V-U»"l'W  W'VV 


1 1 


m 


If 

if 


■4 


too 


JESUITS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


[1702. 


brethren  and  friends  occasionally  made  remittances  to  them,  in 
money  or  goods ;  and  the  king  was  persuaded  to  assign,  for  their 
use,  a  small  annual  allowance :  but  the  Mexican  treasury,  which 
was  charged  with  the  payment  of  this  allowance,  was  seldom  able 
to  meet  their  drafts  when  presented ;  and  the  assistance  derived 
from  all  these  sources  was  much  diminished  in  value  before  it 
reached  those  for  whom  it  was  destined.  Embarrassments  of  this 
nature  occurred  in  170'2,  at  the  commencement  of  the  undertaking, 
in  consequence  of  the  great  costs  of  the  expeditions  from  Mexico 
for  ^he  occupation  of  Texas,  and  the  establishment  of  garrisons  at 
Ponsacola  and  other  places  in  Florida,  as  checks  upon  the  French. 
By  perseverance  and  kindness,  however,  rather  than  by  any 
other  means,  the  Jesuits  overcame  all  the  difficulties  to  which  they 
were  exposed  ;  and  within  sixty  years  after  their  entrance  into  Cal- 
ifornia, they  had  formed  sixteen  principal  establishments,  called 
missions,  extending  in  a  chain  along  the  eastern  side  of  the  penin- 
sula from  Cape  San  Lucas  to  the  head  of  the  gulf.  Each  of  these 
missions  comprised  a  church,  a  fort  garrisoned  by  a  few  soldiers, 
and  some  stores  and  dwelling-houses,  all  under  the  entire  control  of 
the  resident  Jesuit ;  and  it  formed  the  centre  of  a  district  containing 
several  ranchcrias,  or  villages  of  converted  Indians.  The  principal 
mission  or  capital  was  Lorcto ;  south  of  it  was  La  Paz,  the  port 
of  communication  with  Mexico,  probably  the  same  place  called 
Sonin  Cniz  by  Cortes,  where  he  endeavored  to  plant  a  colony  in 
1535  ;  and  near  Cape  San  Lucas  was  San  Jose,  at  which  an  attempt 
was  made  to  provide  means  for  the  repair  and  refreshment  of  vessels 
employed  in  the  Philippine  trade.  No  establishments  were  formed 
on  the  west  coast,  which  does  not  seem  to  have  been  visited  by  the 
Jesuits,  except  on  one  occasion,  in  1716,  The  villages  were  each 
under  the  superintendence  of  Indians  selected  for  the  purpose,  of 
whom  one  possessed  the  powers  of  a  governor,  another  took  care 
of  the  church  or  chapel,  and  a  third  summoned  the  inhabitants  to 
prayers  and  reported  the  delinquents.  The  children  were  taught 
to  speak,  read,  write,  and  sing,  in  Spanish,  and  were  initiated  into 
the  doctrines  and  ceremonies  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion.  The 
converts  were  directed  in  their  labors  by  the  lathers ;  each  being 
generally  allowed  to  retain  the  fruits  of  his  industry,  though  he 
was  at  the  same  time  made  to  understand  that  he  could  not  claim 
them  as  his  property.  Immigration  from  other  countries,  except  of 
Jesuits,  was  as  far  as  possible  prevented  ;  the  efforts  of  the  mission- 
aries being,  in  California  as  in  Paraguay,  devoted  exclusively  to  the 


(    .1 


ony  in 
ttempt 
vessels 
brmed 
by  the 
each 
ise,  of 
care 
nts  to 
aught 
[  into 
The 
being 
h  he 
claim 
pt  of 
ssion- 
o  the 


1760.] 


JESUITS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


101 


improvement  of  the  natives,  and  their  union  into  a  species  of  com- 
monwealth, under  the  guidance  of  their  preceptors. 

The  Jesuits  also  in  California,  as  in  Paraguay  and  elsewhere, 
exerted  themselves  assiduously  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the 
geography,  natural  history,  and  languages  of  the  country.  They 
surveyed  the  whole  coast  of  the  Californian  Gulf,  determining  with 
exactness  the  relative  positions  of  the  principal  points  on  it ;  and  in 
1709,  Father  Kuhn  ascertained  beyond  doubt  the  fact  of  the  con- 
nection of  the  peninsula  with  the  continent,  which  had  been  denied 
for  a  century.  Indeed,  as  regards  the  eastern  and  middle  parts  of 
the  peninsula,  nearly  all  the  information  which  we  possess  at  the 
present  day  has  been  derived  through  the  labors  of  these  mission- 
aries. On  all  those  subjects,  the  results  of  their  researches  were 
communicated  to  the  world  through  the  Lettres  edijiantes  et  curi- 
euses,  published,  from  time  to  time,  at  Paris,  by  learned  members  of 
their  order,  and  afterwards  more  fully  in  their  History  of  California,* 
which  appeared  at  Madrid  in  1757,  and  has  been  translated  into  all 
the  languages  of  Western  Europe. 

In  the  mean  time, —  that  is  to  say,  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century, —  the  power  of  Spain  had,  from  a  variety  of 
causes,  been  constantly  declining.  Her  resources,  and  those  of  her 
colonies,  had,  within  that  period,  been  materially  reduced ;  in  mari- 
time force  she  had  fallen  far  below  England  and  France,  and  a 
large  portion  of  America,  including  valuable  and  extensive  terri- 
tories, which  had  been  long  occupied  by  her  subjects,  had  passed 
into  the  hands  of  her  rivals  or  enemies.  Her  government,  indeed, 
resisted,  as  long  as  possible,  these  intrusions  and  encroachments,  as 
they  were  considered,  of  other  nations  upon  territories  of  which 
Spain  claimed  exclusive  possession  in  virtue  of  the  papal  grant  of 
1493,  as  well  as  of  prior  discovery ;  and  never,  until  forced  by 
absolute  necessity,  did  the  court  of  Madrid  recognize  the  claim  of 
any  other  power,  except  Portugal,  to  occupy  countries  in  the  New 
World,  or  to  navigate  the  Western  Atlantic,  or  any  part  of  the 
Pacific,     The  earliest  recognition  of  such  a  right  by  Spain  was 

*  JVoticia  de  California  y  de  sit  Canquista  cspiritual  y  temporal.  —  This  work,  though 
usually  attributed  to  Vcnegas,  is  doubtless  chiefly  due  to  the  labors  of  Father  Andres 
Marcos  Burriel.  The  portions  relating  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Jesuits  in  California 
are  highly  interesting,  and  bear  every  internal  mark  of  truth  and  authenticity.  The 
observations  on  the  policy  of  the  Spanish  government  towards  its  American  posses- 
sions are  replete  with  wisdom,  and  indicate  more  liberality,  as  well  as  boldness,  on 
the  part  of  the  authors,  than  could  have  been  reasonably  expected,  considering  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  were  written  and  published. 


1 


f ! 


...,i 


^'-l.::i 


4\} 


102 


DECLINE    OF    THE    SPANISH    POWER. 


.■■■■V 


l\'^^ 


!:;' 


'i    I' 


m' 


[1763. 


made  in  the  American  treaty,  as  it  was  called,  concluded  with  Great 
Britain  in  1670,  by  which  it  was  agreed  that  the  British  king  should 
have  and  enjoy  forever,  with  plenary  right  of  sovereignty  and 
property,  all  lands,  regions,  islands,  and  colonics,  possessed  by  him 
or  his  subjects  in  the  West  Indies,  or  in  any  part  of  America ;  with 
the  understanding,  however,  that  the  subjects  of  neither  power 
should  trade  with,  or  sail  to,  any  place  in  those  countries  belonging 
to  the  other,  unless  forced  thither  by  stress  of  weather  or  pursuit 
by  enemies  or  pirates.  These  stipulations  were  renewed  and  con- 
firmed by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1713,  in  which  the  queen  of 
England,  moreover,  engaged  to  give  assistance  to  the  Spaniards  for 
the  restoration  of  the  ancient  limits  of  their  dominions  in  the  West 
Indies,  as  they  were  in  the  time  of  King  Charles  II.  of  Spain ; 
and  it  was  by  common  consent  established,  as  a  chief  and  funda- 
mental rule,  that  the  exercise  of  navigation  and  commerce  in  the 
Spanish  West  Indies  should  remain  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  that 
king,  who  died  in  1700. 

The  terms  of  these,  and  all  other  treaties  on  the  same  subject, 
between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  were,  however,  so  vague,  that 
they  served  rather  to  increase  than  to  prevent  disputes.  The 
meaning  of  the  expression  Spanish  West  Indies  never  could  be 
fixed  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  the  parties ;  and  it  was  impossible 
for  them,  in  any  case  of  alleged  trespass  by  either  upon  the  rights 
of  the  other,  to  agree  as  to  what  were  the  limits  of  their  respective 
dominions,  or  what  was  the  state  of  their  navigation  and  commerce 
at  the  time  of  the  death  of  King  Charles  II.,  or  at  any  other  time. 
The  British  colonies  were,  nevertjieless,  constantly  advancing  and 
absorbing  those  of  other  European  powers,  and  all  the  attempts  of 
the  Spaniards  to  check  their  prosperity  were  ineffectual. 

The  French,  by  their  occupation  of  Louisiana  and  the  western 
half  of  St.  Domingo,  also  gave  great  uneasiness  to  the  Spaniards 
for  some  time ;  but  the  political  interests  of  the  two  nations  had 
become  so  closely  involved,  by  the  family  ties  between  their  sove- 
reigns, that  Spain,  as  the  weaker,  in  this  and  in  the  other  cases, 
was  obliged  to  submit  to  the  influence  and  encroachments  of  her 
powerful  ally. 

At  length,  in  1763,  peace  was  restored  among  these  three  great 
powers.  Spain  recovered  from  France  New  Orleans  and  the  part 
of  Louisiana  west  of  the  Mississippi ;  while  the  remainder  of 
Louisiana,  together  with  Florida,  Canada,  and  all  the  other  French 
possessions  on  the  North  American  continent,  became  the  property 


]l 


1762.] 


FAMILY    COMPACT. 


103 


of  Great  Britain.  The  interests  of  France  in  the  New  World  were 
so  small,  after  these  arrangements,  that  they  could  scarcely  of  them- 
selves afford  grounds  for  dispute  between  her  and  Spain ;  and  the 
two  crowns  were,  moreover,  supposed  to  be  firmly  united  by  a 
treaty  celebrated  in  history  as  the  Family  Compact,  concluded  in 
176*2,  through  the  agency,  chiefly,  of  the  duke  de  Choiseul,  prime 
minister  of  France,  by  which  the  sovereigns  of  those  kingdoms 
guarantied  to  each  other  all  their  dominions  in  every  part  of  the 
world,  and  engaged  to  consider  as  their  common  enemy  any  nation 
which  should  become  the  enemy  of  either. 

The  claims  of  Spain  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  western  side  of 
America  were  never  made  the  subject  of  controversy  with  any 
other  state  until  1790 ;  but  her  pretensions  to  the  exclusive  navi- 
gation of  the  Pacific,  though  upheld  by  her  government  even  after 
that  period,  had  long  before  ceased  to  be  regarded  with  respect  by 
the  rest  of  the  world.  The  free-traders,  freebooters,  and  bucaniers, — 
that  is  to  say,  the  smugglers  and  pirates, — of  Great  Britain,  France, 
and  Holland,  led  the  way  into  that  ocean,  which  they  continued 
to  infest  during  the  whole  of  the  seventeenth  and  a  part  of  the 
eighteenth  centuries :  they  were  followed  by  the  armed  squadrons 
of  those  nations,  with  one  or  other  of  which  Spain  was  almost 
always  at  war ;  and  during  the  intervals  of  peace  came  the  exploring 
ships  of  the  same  powers,  whose  voyages,  though  at  first  ostensibly 
scientific,  were,  with  good  reason,  considered  at  Madrid  as  ominous 
of  evil  to  the  dominion  of  Spain  in  America.* 

These  exploring  voyages  became  more  frequent,  and  their  objects 
were  avowedly  political  as  well  as  scientific,  after  the  peace  of 
1763  ;  about  which  time,  moreover,  they  were  rendered  more  safe, 
expeditious,  and  effective  in  every  respect,  by  the  introduction  of 
the  reflecting  quadrant  and  the  chronometer  into  use  on  board  the 
public  ships  of  all  the  maritime  nations  of  Europe,  except  Spain 
and  Portugal.  Between  that  year  and  1779  the  Pacific  and  the 
southern  oceans  were  annually  swept  by  well-appointed  ships  of 
Great  Britain  or  France,  under  able  navigators,  whose  journals  were 
published  immediately  on  the  conclusion  of  their  voyages,  in  the 


M  I 


'\^\ 


m 


*  Lord  Lansdowne,  in  a  speech  in  the  British  House  of  Lords,  December  13,  1790, 
on  the  subject  of  the  convention  then  recently  concluded  with  Spain,  said  — "  Sir 
Benjamin  Keene,  [ambassador  from  Great  Britain  at  Madrid  from  1754  to  1757,]  one 
of  the  ablest  foreign  ministers  this  country  ever  had,  used  to  say,  that,  if  the  Span- 
iards vexed  us  in  the  first  instance,  we  had  means  enough  to  vex  them  in  return, 
without  infringing  treaties ;  and  the  first  step  he  would  recommend  would  be  to 
■end  out  ships  of  discovery  to  the  South  Sea." 


V;! 


^;  i;-LU 


m  ■• 


104 


ALARMS  OF  THE  COURT  OP  MADRID 


[1765. 


i,    I 


Ml 


1,    t 

■■',1 


m!^ 


Hi;'    j 


M'ri 


most  authentic  manner  possible,  illustrated  by  maps,  plans,  tables, 
views  of  scenery,  and  portraits  of  natives,  all  conspiring  to  afford 
the  most  exact  ideas  of  the  objects  and  places  described  in  the 
narratives.  New  lands  and  new  objects  and  channels  of  com- 
mercial and  political  enterprise  were  thus  opened  to  all ;  and  new 
principles  of  national  right,  adverse  to  the  subsistence  of  the 
exclusive  system  so  long  maintained  by  the  Spanish  government, 
were  established  and  recognized  among  all  other  states. 

The  voyages  of  the  British  exploring  ships  were,  until  1778,  con- 
fined to  the  southern  parts  of  the  ocean  ;  but  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment had  been  constantly  in  dread  of  their  appearance  in  the  North 
Pacific,  particularly  as  a  navigable  communication  between  that 
ocean  and  the  Atlantic,  in  the  north,  was  again  generally  believed 
to  exist.  The  acquisition  of  Canada  by  Great  Britain  rendered 
the  discovery  of  such  a  passage  much  more  important  to  that 
power,  as  there  was  less  danger  that  any  other  nation  should 
derive  advantages  from  it,  to  the  injury  of  British  interests ;  while 
Spain,  becoming  possessed  of  Louisiana,  which  was  supposed  to 
extend  indefinitely  northward,  had  thus  additional  reasons  for 
viewing  with  dissatisfaction  any  attempts  of  her  rival  to  advance 
westward  across  the  continent. 

Serious  grounds  of  apprehension  were  also  afforded  by  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Russians  on  the  northernmost  coasts  of  the  Pacific. 
All  that  was  generally  known  of  them  was  obtained  from  the  maps 
and  accounts  of  the  French  geographers,  which,  though  vague  and 
contradictory,  yet  served  to  establish  the  certainty  that  this  am- 
bitious and  enterprising  nation  had  formed  colonies  and  naval 
stations  in  the  north-easternmost  part  of  Asia,  and  had  found  and 
taken  possession  of  extensive  territories  beyond  the  sea  bathing 
those  shores ;  and  these  circumstances  were  sufficient  to  alarm  the 
Spanish  government  for  the  safety  of  its  provinces  on  the  western 
side  of  America. 

In  order  to  avert  the  evils  thus  supposed  to  be  impending,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  revive  the  claims  of  Spain  to  the  exclusive 
navigation  of  the  Pacific,  and  to  the  possession  of  the  vacant  terri- 
tories of  America  adjoining  her  settled  provinces,  as  well  as  to 
render  those  provinces  more  advantageous  to  and  dependent  on 
the  mother  country,  a  system  was  devised  at  Madrid,  about  the 
year  1765,  embracing  a  series  of  measures  which  were  to  be  applied 
as  circumstances  might  dictate  or  permit.  This  system,  which  is 
supposed  to  have  been  elaborated  chiefly  by  Carrasco,  the  fiscal  of 


•1  f  ■; 


I 


1766.] 


SCHEMES    OF    THE    COURT    OF    SPAIN. 


105 


lis  am- 

naval 

nd  and 

alhing 

rm  the 

estern 

kg,  and 
^elusive 
Jit  terri- 
ll  as  to 
lent  on 
[)ut  tlie 
ipplied 
thich  is 
Iscal  of 


the  Council  of  Castile,  and  Galvez,  a  high  officer  of  the  Council  of 
the  Indies,  embraced  reforms  in  every  part  of  the  administration, 
particularly  in  the  finances  of  the  American  dominions,  the  shameful 
abuses  in  which  had  been  laid  open  by  Ulloa,  in  his  celebrated 
report*  presented  to  the  government  in  1747.  It  was  likewise 
intended  that  the  vacant  coasts  and  islands,  adjacent  to  the  settled 
provinces  in  the  New  World,  should  be  examined  and  occupied  by 
colonies  and  garrisons  sufficient  for  their  protection  against  the 
attempts  of  foreign  nations  to  seize  them,  or  at  least  to  secure 
to  Spain  the  semblance  of  a  right  of  sovereignty  over  them,  on 
the  ground  of  prior  discovery  and  settlement.  The  deliberations 
with  regard  to  this  system  seem  to  have  been  conducted  with  the 
utmost  secrecy  by  the  Spanish  government ;  and  no  idea  was  enter- 
tained of  its  objects  in  1766,  when  Galvez,  the  officer  above  named, 
arrived  in  Mexico  as  visitad6r,\  with  full  powers  to  carry  the  new 
measures  into  effect  in  that  part  of  the  dominions. 

This  Galvez  was  a  man  of  the  most  violent  and  tyrannical  dis- 
position. His  arbitrary  proceedings  in  financial  matters  occasioned 
an  insurrection  in  the  province  of  Puebla,  which  nothing  but  the 
firmness  and  good  sense  of  the  marquis  de  Croix,  then  viceroy  of 
Mexico,  prevented  from  becoming  general.  He  then  engaged  in  an 
expensive  war  against  the  Indians  in  Sonora  and  Sinaloa,  the  coun- 
tries bordering  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Californian  Gulf,  from 
which  very  little  cither  of  honor  or  of  profit  accrued  to  Spain  ;  and 
a  portion  of  his  impetuosity  having  thus  escaped,  he  turned  his 
attention  towards  California,  where  he  was  charged  with  an  im- 
portant duty. 

The  sovereigns  of  continental  Europe  and  their  ministers  had 
long  been  impatient  and  jealous  of  the  influence  enjoyed,  or  sup- 

*  yoticias  srcrctas  de  Jimrrica  —  Secret  inioriiiation  rcspoctinsf  tlic  internal  adminis- 
tration of  Peru,  Quito,  Chile,  and  New  Granada,  collected  by  Don  Antonio  de  Ulloa 
and  Don  Jorge  Juan,  who  had  been  sent  for  that  purpos.>  by  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment in  174l) ;  the  only  work  from  which  it  is  possible  to  obtain  a  true  picture  of  the 
state  of  those  countries,  and  of  the  abuses  and  corruptions  practised  in  them  by  the 
Spanish  ollicials.  It  was  first  publish(<d  at  London,  in  \&A\,  by  some  political  refugees 
of  that  nation,  who  had  obtained  possession  of  the  original  manuscript. 

t  "  This  title  is  given  \n  persons  charged  by  the  court  of  Madrid  to  make  inquiries 
as  to  the  state  of  the  colonies.  Their  risitu,  in  general,  produce  no  other  effects  than 
to  balance  for  a  time  the  authorities  of  the  viceroy  and  the  audiencia,  [powers  almost 
o! ,.  a;  ^  at  variance,]  and  to  cause  an  infinite  number  of  memorials,  petitions,  and 
f  !'ir>s,  to  be  devised  and  presv'nted,  and  some  new  tax  to  be  imposed.  The  people  of 
the  country  look  for  the  arrival  of  a  risittuhir  with  the  same  impatience  with  which 
they  afterwards  desire  his  departure."  —  Humboldt's  Essay  on  Mexico,  book  ii. 
chapter  vii. 

14 


''^■^it 


.  '■■'¥r 


;'^ii,; 


100 


THE    EXPULSION    OF    THE    JESUITS. 


[1767. 


1 


"1.  V 


posed  to  be  enjoyed,  by  the  Jesuits  ;  and  the  governments  of  Spain 
and  Portugal,  though  always  opposed  to  each  other,  were  equally 
mistrustful  as  to  the  objects  and  proceedings  of  that  order  in  the 
New  World.  Suspicions  were  entertained  at  Lisbon  and  at  Madrid 
that  those  proceedings  were  not  dictated  solely  by  religious  or  phiU 
anthropic  motives ;  but  that  the  Jesuits  aspired  to  the  separation 
and  exclusive  control  of  the  greater  part,  if  not  of  the  whole,  of 
Southern  America :  and  these  suspicions  were  increased  by  the 
successful  stand  which  they  made  in  Paraguay,  at  the  head  of  the 
natives,  against  the  division  of  that  province,  and  the  transfer  of  a 
portion  of  its  territory  to  Portugal,  agreeably  to  the  treaty  concluded 
between  the  latter  kingdom  and  Spain,  in  1750.  This  act  drew 
down  upon  the  order  the  hatred  of  the  subtle  and  fearless  marquis 
de  Pombal,  who  then  ruled  Portugal  with  a  rod  of  steel ;  from  that 
moment  he  devoted  himself  to  its  destruction,  and,  his  plans  having 
been  disposed  with  care  and  secrecy,  all  its  members  were  expelled 
from  the  Portuguese  dominions,  without  difficulty,  in  1759.  In 
France,  the  Jesuits  were  soon  after  entirely  overthrown  by  the 
agency  of  the  duke  de  Choiseul,  the  minister,  and  madame  de  Pom- 
padour, the  mistress  of  Louis  XV. ;  and  on  the  2d  of  April,  1767, 
a  decree  was  unexpectedly  issued  by  King  Charles  III.  of  Spain, 
at  the  instigation  of  the  celebrated  count  de  Aranda,  for  their  im- 
mediate banishment  from  the  Spanish  territories.  This  decree  was 
executed  without  delay  in  every  part  of  the  empire.  In  Mexico, 
the  Jesuits,  to  the  number  of  several  hundreds,  were,  in  July 
following,  arrested  and  sent  off  to  Europe ;  and  a  strong  military 
force  was  at  the  same  time  despatched  to  California,  under  the 
command  of  Don  Gaspar  de  Portola,  who  found  no  difficulty  in 
tearing  a  few  old  priests  from  the  arms  of  their  wailing  converts. 

Thus  ended  the  rule  of  the  Jesuits  in  Cahfornia.  That  their 
efforts  were  attended  with  good  cannot  be  denied ;  for  those  who 
were  the  immediate  objects  of  their  care,  were  certainly  rendered 
happier,  more  comfortable,  and  more  free  from  vice,  than  they  would 
otherwise  have  been.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  aborigines  of 
California  are  among  the  most  indolent  and  brutish  of  the  human 
race ;  with  minds  as  sterile  and  unimpro\  tible  as  the  soil  of  their 
peninsula.  By  constant  watchfulness,  by  the  judicious  administra- 
tion of  rewards  as  well  as  punishments,  by  the  removal  of  all  evil 
examples,  and,  above  all,  by  studiously  practising  themselves  what 
they  recommended  to  others,  the  benevolent,  wise,  and  persevering 
Jesuits  did  indeed  introduce  a  certain  degree  of  civilization,  or 


tu 
sii 
in 

go 

im 

mi 

an( 

au£ 

Esl 

8id( 

neg 

in  > 

the 


li 


17C7.] 


EXPULSION    or   THE    JESUITS. 


107 


apparent  civilization,  among  these  people ;  but  there  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that,  by  any  means  as  yet  employed  for  the  purpose,  a 
single  Californian  Indian  has  been  rendered  a  useful,  or  even  an 
innocuous,  member  of  society. 

There  was,  however,  no  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Spanish 
government  to  abandon  California.  On  the  contrary,  the  peninsula 
immediately  became  a  province  of  Mexico,  and  was  provided  with 
military  and  civil  officers  dependent  on  the  viceroy  of  that  kingdom; 
and  the  missions  were  confided  to  the  Dominicans,  under  whose 
austere  rule  the  majority  of  the  converts  relapsed  into  barbarism. 
Establishments  were  also  formed  by  the  Spaniards  on  the  western 
side  of  California ;  and  the  coasts  farther  north,  which  had  been 
neglected  for  more  than  a  hundred  and  sixty  years,  were  explored 
in  voyages  made  for  the  purpose  from  Mexico,  as  will  be  shown  in 
the  succeeding  chapter. 


'^  ■ 


]i 


'^   'A 


m 


w 


•.'I 

' .  a- 


'  :■  :lii:i 


108 


CHAPTER    IV. 


1769  TO  1779. 


1     .^!i 


iU 


!:  i  il 


';il. ... 


«.'  ^  ■';!;■ 


First  Establishmonts  on  tho  West  Const  of  California  fnundod  by  the  Spaniards  — 
Dispute  between  Spain  and  Great  Britain  respecting  tlio  Falkland  Islands  — 
Exploring  Voyages  of  the  Spaniards  nnder  I'orez,  lleceta  and  Bodega,  and  Arti-agtt 
and  IJodega — Discovery  of  Nootkn  Sound,  Norfolk  Sound,  and  the  Mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River — Importance  of  these  Discoveries. 

Immediately  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  Mexico,  the 
viceroy  of  Mexico,  De  Croix,  und  the  visitador,  Galvez,  directed 
their  attention  to  the  establishment  of  colonies  and  garrisons  on  the 
western  side  of  California,  agreeably  to  the  system  adopted  for  the 
restauration  of  the  Spanish  dominions  in  the  New  World. 

At  that  time,  little  was  known,  with  certainty,  of  any  part  of  the 
west  coast  of  America  north  of  the  43d  parallel,  to  which  latitude 
it  had  been  explored  by  Sebastian  Vi/caino,  in  ICO.'J.  The  voyage 
of  Juan  de  Fuca  was  generally  considered  as  apocryphal,  and 
nothing  of  an  exact  nature  could  be  learned  from  the  accounts  of 
the  Russian  expeditions  in  that  quarter.  Upon  examining  the 
charts  and  journals  of  Vizcaino,  descriptions  were  found  of  several 
places  surveyed  by  him,  which  he  strongly  recommended  as  suitable 
for  settlements  or  naval  stations ;  and,  agreeably  to  his  views,  it  was 
determined  in  Mexico  that  the  first  establishments  should  be  formed 
on  the  harbors  which  had  received  from  that  navigator  the  names 
of  Port  San  Diego  and  Port  Monterey.  Accordingly,  after  much 
difficulty,  a  small  number  of  settlers,  with  some  soldiers  and  Fran- 
ciscan friars,  were  assembled  at  La  Paz,  on  the  western  shore  of  the 
Califoriiian  Gulf,  which  had  been  selected  as  the  place  of  rendez- 
vous ;  and  thence,  in  the  spring  of  1769,*  they  began  their  march 

*  This  account  of  the  establishment  of  the  first  Spanish  colonies  on  the  west  coast 
of  California  is  derived  from  —  the  narrative  of  Miguel  Costanso,  the  engineer  of  the 
expedition,  which  was  published  at  Mexico  in  1771,  and  immediately  suppressed  by 
the  government;  a  copy,  however,  escaped  to  England,  from  which  a  translation  was 
published  at  London,  in  17!)0,  by  A.  Dalrymple  —  and  from  the  biography  of  Friar 
Junipero  Serra,  the  principal  of  the  Franciscans  who  accompanied  the  expedition, 
written  by  Friar  Francisco  Palou,  and  published  at  Mexico  in  1787. 


:'rli 


niardfl  — 
glands  — 
,  ArU'aga 
th  of  the 


ico,  the 

lircctcd 

I  on  the 

for  the 

t  of  the 
latitude 
voyage 
il,   and 
>unt8  of 
ing  the 
several 
suitable 
,  it  was 
formed 
names 
ir  much 
Fran- 
|e  of  the 
rcndez- 
march 

krest  coast 

per  of  the 

Ircsscd  by 

lation  was 

of  Friar 

ipedition, 


1769.] 


SPANISH    COLONIES    IN    NEW    CALIFORNIA. 


109 


through  the  peninsula  towards  San  Diego,  the  nearest  of  the  places 
selected  for  the  first  establishments,  in  two  parties,  commanded 
respectively  by  Gaspar  de  Portola,  the  governor  of  the  newly-formed 
province,  and  Fernando  de  Rivera,  a  captain  in  the  army.  Each 
party  carried  a  drove  of  cattle ;  the  materials  and  supplies  for  the 
colonics  being  sent  in  three  vessels  directly  to  San  Diego. 

The  first  party  of  emigrants  under  Rivera,  after  a  long  and 
painful  march,  reached  San  Diego  on  the  14th  of  May,  1769,  and 
found  there  two  of  the  vessels,  which,  after  disastrous  voyages  and 
the  loss  of  many  of  their  crews  by  scurvy,  had  arrived  a  few  days 
previous.  The  other  body,  under  Portola,  marched  by  a  still  more 
difHcult  route,  and  did  not  join  their  companions  on  the  Pacific 
shore  until  nearly  two  months  later.  A  spot  having  been  chosen 
fi»r  the  settlement  near  the  entrance  of  the  Buy  of  San  Diego, 
a  portion  of  the  men  were  employed  in  erecting  the  necessary 
buildings ;  with  the  remainder  Portola  set  oft'  for  Monterey,  where 
he  was  anxious  also  to  establish  a  colony  immediately,  leaving 
directions  that  the  third  vessel,  which  was  expected  from  Mexico, 
ihould  be  ordered  to  proceed  with  her  cargo  to  that  place.  This 
expedition,  however,  was  not  successful ;  for  the  Spaniards,  march- 
ing along  the  eastern  side  of  the  range  of  mountains  which 
border  the  coast  northward  of  San  Diego,  passed  by  Monterey, 
and  found  themselves,  at  the  end  of  October,  on  the  shore  of  a  great 
bay,  which  they  supposed  to  be  the  same  called  Port  Son  Francisco 
in  the  accounts  of  the  old  navigators.  When  they  discovered  the 
place  of  which  they  were  in  search,  the  cold  weather  had  begun  ; 
and,  the  vessel  not  appearing,  with  the  supplies,  as  expected,  they 
were  obliged  to  retrace  their  steps  to  San  Diego.  Of  this  third 
vessel  nothing  was  ever  heard  after  her  departure  from  the  Gulf  of 
California. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  people  left  at  San  Diego  had  experienced 
great  difiiculties  from  the  hostility  of  the  natives,  by  whom  they 
were  several  times  attacked  ;  and,  after  the  return  of  the  governor's 
party,  they  were  all  in  danger  of  perishing  from  want  of  food :  so 
tliat  they  unanimously  agreed  to  abandon  the  country  and  return 
to  Mexico,  unless  they  should  be  relieved,  before  St.  Joseph's  d;iy, 
the  10th  of  March,  1770,  by  the  return  of  one  of  the  vessels,  which 
had  been  sent  for  supplies.  On  that  day,  one  of  the  vessels 
did  arrive,  and,  the  supplies  being  found  suliicicnt,  Portola  again  set 
otf  for  Monterey,  where  a  settlement  was  effected.  During  the 
same  year,  other  parties  of  emigrants  came  from  Mexico,  and  new 


i 

I 


ilHi! 


n# 


OISPUTi:    ABOUT    THE    FALKLAND    ISLANDS. 


[1770. 


J ; 


If 


'i!l 


'  I 


^  m 


eitnblishments  were  formed  on  the  coast  between  San  Diego  and 
Monterey  ;  and,  as  the  means  of  subsistence  soon  became  abundant 
by  the  multiplication  of  their  cattle,  independently  of  the  fruits  of 
their  labor  in  agriculture,  the  Spanish  colonies  in  Upper  California 
were,  before  1775,  in  a  condition  to  resist  the  dangers  to  which  they 
were  likely  to  be  exposed. 

Another  measure,  undertaken  by  the  Spanish  government  about 
this  time,  in  prosecution  of  its  plans  for  securing  the  unsettled 
coasts  and  islands  of  America  from  occupation  by  foreign  powers, 
brought  Spain  into  collision,  and  nearly  into  war,  with  Great  Britain. 

Soon  after  the  peace  of  1763,  colonies  were  formed  by  the  French 
and  the  British  on  the  barren,  storm-vexed  group  of  the  Folk- 
land  Islands,  in  the  South  Atlantic  Ocean,  near  the  entrance  of 
Magellan's  Strait.  The  French  colonists  were  soon  withdrawn  by 
their  government,  at  the  instance  of  the  Spanish  king,  though  not 
until  after  an  angry  discussion  :  the  British  ministers,  on  the  other 
hand,  treated  with  contempt  the  remonstrances  addressed  to  them 
from  Madrid,  on  the  subject  of  their  settlement.  At  length,  in 
June,  1770,  the  British  colonists  were  expelled  from  Port  Kgmont, 
the  place  which  they  occupied,  by  a  squadron  and  troops  sent  for  the 
purpose  from  Buenos  Ayres  by  Don  Francisco  Bucareli,  the  gov- 
ernor of  that  province.  This  event  created  great  excitement  in 
England,  and  both  nations  prepared  for  war ;  but  the  dispute  was 
compromised  through  the  mediation  of  Fronce.  A  declaration  was 
presented  on  the  part  of  Spain,  to  the  effect  —  tliat  the  Catholic  king 
disavowed  the  act  of  the  governor  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and  promised 
to  restore  the  settlers  to  Port  Egmont ;  but  that  these  concessions 
were  not  to  be  considered  as  prejudicing  his  prior  right  of  sovereign- 
ty over  the  islands :  and  the  British  minister  gave  in  return  an  accept- 
ance of  the  disavowal  and  promise  of  restoration,  without  noticing 
the  Spanish  reservation  of  right.*  Agreeably  to  this  promise,  the 
British  colonists  were  replaced  at  Port  Egmont  in  1771  ;  but  they 
were  withdrawn  by  order  of  their  government  in  1774,  on  the  plea 
of  the  expensiveness  and  inutility  of  the  establishment,  but,  as  is 

*  The  documents  relative  to  this  dispute  may  be  found  at  length  m  the  London 
Annual  Register,  and  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  for  1770.  See,  also,  —  the 
Parliamentary  History,  vol.  xvi.  —  the  Anecdotes  of  the  Life  of  Lord  Chathcn, 
chap,  xxxix.  —  Thoughts  on  the  Falkland  Islands,  by  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  &c. 
The  author  of  this  History  may  also  be  permitted  to  refer  to  —  a  Memoir,  Historical 
and  Political,  on  the  Falkland  Islands  —  written  by  himself,  and  published  in  the  New 
York  Merchant's  Magazine  for  February,  1842,  containing  full  accounts  of  all  the 
circumstances  connected  with  this  famous  dispute. 


1771.] 


SETTLEMENT   Or    THE    DISPUTE. 


Ill 


generally  believed,  in  conHuqucnce  of  u  secret  engagement  to  that 
eflect,  concluded  between  the  parties  *  at  the  time  of  the  settlement 


>  London 
80,  —  the 
Jhathcn, 
son,  &c. 
[iBtorical 
the  New 
f  all  the 


*  That  tho  Uritiiih  Kovcrniiicnt  did  locrotly  t-ni^Kge— to  abandon  the  Falkland  lilandi 
entirely,  foon  after  the  reHtitutioii  of  i'ort  Eginoul  iihould  have  been  formally  effected— 
wai  asiterted  at  the  time  openly  in  parliament,  and  without  reply  from  the  niiniiteri, 
ai  well  M  by  many  individuals  in  Ureat  lintniii  whoHe  opiuion<<  are  entitled  to  credit. 
It  waa  admitted  by  Dr.  JohiiHon,  in  an  edttiun  of  hiM  Thoui;hta,  Jkc,  publinhed  lub- 
lequent  to  the  evaciiatiiin ;  and  it  has  been  h)  u-d  as  true  by  every  historian,  British 
and  f(irei||;n,  who  has  descrilu'd  the  affair.  It  tvus,  indeed,  regarded  as  an  established 
fact,  and  was  untpiestioned  until  the  Hth  of  January,  IHIM,  when  Lord  Paluierston, 
the  British  secretary  for  forei|;n  affairs,  in  answer  to  a  protest  on  the  part  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Buenos  Ayres  afjainst  the  recent  occupation  of  th>  Fa'kland  Islands  by 
Ureal  Britain,  formally  denied  it,  and  produced  a  number  of  -^'racts  from  corre- 
spondence bclwrrn  Hrilish  minintira  and  their  own  aticnts,  which  he  considered  as 
affording  '*  concluHive  evidence  that  no  such  secret  understanding  could  have  existed," 
as  it  is  not  mentioned  in  thoHc  extractH.  The  papers  cited  by  Lord  Pulmerston,  and 
tile  arguments  whicli  he  draws  from  tliem,  are,  however,  insutficient  to  change  the 
general  preexisting  belief  on  the  subject ;  for  in  none  of  them  should  we  expect  to 
find  any  allusion  to  tiie  engagement  in  question.  There  is  no  apparent  reason  for 
which  the  ministers  should  have  informed  any  of  the  persons  addressed  in  these 
letters  of  their  promise  to  evacuate  the  islands ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was 
clearly  important  for  them  to  suppress  all  proof  uf  their  having  made  such  an  engage- 
ment, which  the  whole  British  people  would  have  considered  dishonoring,  it  is  no 
novelty  in  diplomacy,  that  an  ambassador  should  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  matters 
settled  rr  discussed  between  his  own  ministers  of  state  and  those  of  the  government 
to  which  he  is  accredited ;  and  the  very  negotiation  by  whicli  this  dispute  was  ter- 
minated, was  earrii'd  on  through  the  agency  of  the  secretary  of  the  French  embassy 
at  London,  while  the  ambassador  himself  knew  nothing  about  it. 

Equally  inelHcient  to  produce  conviction  is  the  assertion  of  Lord  Pahnerston  in 
the  same  letter,  "  that  the  reservation  (with  regard  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  Falkland 
islands)  contained  in  lh(>  Spanish  derltiratiou  cannot  be  admitted  to  possess  any  sub- 
stantial weight,  inasuuieli  as  no  notice  whatever  is  taken  of  it  in  the  British  counter 
dedariition."  In  the  tirst  place,  no  counter  tieclarution  was  made  on  the  occasion  : 
the  British  nunister  presented,  in  return  for  the  Spanish  ambassador's  declarulion,  a 
paper  containing  not  u  word  of  contradiction,  and  which  isi,  as  it  was  styled  when 
submitted  to  parliament,  an  acrrptaiicc.  These  two  documents  —  the  only  ones  which 
are  as  yet  knuusn  to  have  passed  on  the  conclusion  of  the  dispute — cannot  be  sepa- 
rated in  reasoning  on  their  contents,  but  must  be  taken  together,  as  forming  one  con 
rentiiin,  ailmittcd  hij  both  parlim.  It  will  not  be  pretended  that  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador delivered  his  declaration,  without  full  knowledge  of  the  answer  which  was  to 
be  made  to  it ;  and  the  silence  of  the  British  minister  on  the  subject  of  the  reser- 
vation amounts,  at  least,  to  an  acknowledgment  that  the  fact  of  the  restitution  of  Port 
Eginont  was  not  regarded  as  a  surrender  by  Spain  of  her  claim  of  sovereignty  over 
the  Falkland  group,  which  was  to  remain  such  as  it  had  been  before  the  dispute. 
That  this  view  must  have  been  taken  by  the  British  government  is  likewise 
strongly  corroborated  by  the  circumstance  that  the  Spaniards  continued  to  occupy 
Soledad  (another  place  in  the  Falkland  Islands,  where  the  French  had  made  their 
settlement)  for  more  than  forty  years  after  this  arrangement,  without  ony  complaint 
or  objection  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  though  they  had  been  formally  ordered  to 
quit  it  before  the  dispute  occurred. 

It  will  be  shown,  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  this  History,  that  the  British  govern- 
ment, in  1B27,  took  a  different  view  of  reservations  of  right,  when  they  were  in  favor 
of  Great  Britain. 


V  ;  til 


•  &  fit' 


■  \ 


■i? 


113 


SPANISH    COLONIES    IN    NEW    CALIFORNIA. 


[1774. 


of  the  dispute.  Bucareli,  the  governor  of  Buenos  Ayres,  whose  acts 
had  been  disavowed  by  his  sovereign,  was  raised  to  the  high  and 
lucrative  post  of  viceroy  of  Mexico. 

The  issue  of  this  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  served 
to  impress  upon  the  government  of  the  latter  power  still  more 
strongly,  the  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  occupying  the  vacant 
coasts  and  islands  of  America  adjoining  its  settled  provinces. 
Efforts  for  this  purpose  were  accordingly  made,  not  only  on  the 
coasts  of  California,  but  also  on  those  of  Texas,  of  the  Mosquito 
country,  and  of  Patagonia,  and  were  continued,  at  great  expense, 
though  with  little  effect,  until  1779,  when  they  were  abandoned,  in 
consequence  of  the  wars  excited  by  the  revolution  which  ended  in 
the  independence  of  the  United  States. 

The  efforts  of  the  Spanish  government  were,  however,  specially 
directed  towards  the  west  coasts  of  North  America ;  and,  in  order 
to  give  them  efficiency,  a  particular  branch  of  the  administration  of 
Mexico  was  created,  under  the  title  of  the  Marine  Department  of 
tSan  Bias,  which  was  charged  with  the  superintendence  and  ad- 
vancement of  the  establishments  in  that  quarter.  The  port  of  San 
Bias,  in  Mexico,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Californian  Gulf,  was  made 
the  centre  of  the  operations  for  these  purposes :  arsenals,  ship- 
yards, and  warehouses,  were  erected  there ;  all  expeditions  for  the 
coasts  farther  north  were  made  from  it,  and  all  orders  relative  to 
them  passed  through  the  chief  of  the  department,  who  resided  at 
that  port. 

In  this  manner,  before  1779,  eight  establishments  were  formed, 
by  the  Spaniards,  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  America,  between  the 
Californian  peninsula  and  Cape  Mendocino;  the  southernmost  of 
which  was  San  Diego,  near  the  32d  degree  of  latitude,  and  the 
northernmost,  San  Francisco,  on  the  great  bay  of  the  same  name, 
near  the  ;38t!i.  These  establishments  were,  in  their  character, 
almost  exclusively  military  and  missionary ;  being  intended  solely 
for  the  occupation  of  the  country,  which  it  was  proposed  to  effect, 
as  far  as  possible,  by  the  conversion  of  the  aborigines  to  the 
Catholic  religion,  and  to  the  forms  and  customs  of  civilized  life. 

The  military  arrangements  were  all  on  the  most  miserable  scale. 
The  forts,  some  of  them  dignified  with  the  name  of  castles,  were 
of  mud ;  the  artillery  were  a  few  old  pieces,  of  various  sizes, 
generally  ineffective,  and  the  garrisons  were  all  slender :  the  men 
were  badly  armed,  badly  clothed,  and  seldom  or  never  exercised, 
though  they  were  well  fed,  as  the  country  was  covered  with  cattle, 


1774.] 


SPANISH    COLONIES    IN    NEW    CALIFORNIA. 


118 


)rmed, 
in  the 
lost  of 
bd  the 
name, 
^racter, 
solely 
effect, 
I  to  the 
life, 
scale. 
,  were 
sizes, 
|e  men 
frcised, 
cattle, 


the  descendants  of  the  herds  brought  thither  by  the  Spaniards  in 
1770 ;  and  the  ground  yielded,  with  little  cultivation,  as  much 
Indian  corn,  beans,  and  red  pepper,  as  could  be  consumed.  The 
missions  were,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  military 
stations,  and,  like  those  of  the  Jesuits,  they  each  contained  a  church, 
generally  well  built,  with  some  ruder  edifices,  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  priests  and  their  converts,  and  for  store  and  work- 
houses. The  public  farms  were  worked  by  the  natives,  under  the 
direction  of  the  missionaries  or  soldiers,  and  merely  produced  the 
food  required  in  the  establishments,  and,  in  some  places,  a  little 
wine.  Towns  were  afterwards  formed,  some  of  which  were 
endowed  with  the  privileges  of  u  corporation ;  but  none  of  them 
attained  a  large  size. 

The  missionaries  were,  as  already  stated,  of  the  Franciscan 
order,  the  members  of  which  are  incapacitated,  by  their  vows,  from 
holding  any  property  as  individuals.  They  were,  for  the  most  part, 
plain,  uneducated  men  —  taken  from  the  lower  classes  of  society,  and 
knowing  no  books  but  their  breviaries,  and  the  biographies  of  their 
saints  —  who  devoted  themselves  conscientiously  and  heroically  to 
the  task  of  reclaiming  and  guiding  the  barbarous  natives  of  that 
remote  region  —  without  any  expectation  of  acquiring  wealth  or 
honors  —  unsupported  by  the  ambition  and  pride  of  order  which 
animated  the  Jesuits  —  and  uncheered  by  those  social  pleasures  and 
consolations  which  our  Protestant  apostles  derive  from  their  fam- 
ilies, wherever  they  may  be  placed.  To  their  virtuous  conduct  and 
self-denial  all  the  enlightened  travellers*  who  have  visited  their 
missions  bear  unqualified  testimony. 

These  missionaries  soon  succeeded  in  reducing  a  large  number 
of  the  natives  of  California  to  a  certain  degree  of  conformity  with 
the  customs  of  social  life.  The  neophytes  were  obtained,  gener- 
ally when  young,  from  their  parents,  by  persuasion,  or  by  purchase, 
or,  in  some  cases,  by  force,  and  were  never  suffered  to  return  to 
their  savage  friends,  if  it  could  be  prevented.  They  were  all,  at 
first,  treated  as  children  ;  the  nature  and  hours  of  their  labors,  their 
studies,  their  meals,  and  their  recreations,  being  prescribed  by  their 
superintendents ;  and  they  were  punished  when  negligent  or  re- 
fractory, though  not  with  severity.  After  remaining  ten  years  in 
this  state  of  pupilage,  they  might  obtain  their  liberty,  and  have 
ground  allotted  to  them  ;  but  comparatively  few  availed  themselves 

"  La  Ferouse,  Vancouver,  Kotzebue,  Beechey,  dtc. 
15 


I 


i|-l! 


1.1 


i.  !  i 


■ 


i 
1 

''' 


- 


in 


■iV 


■■,v' 


h., 


■'Ua- 


114 


VOYAGE    OF    JUAN    PEREZ. 


[1774. 


of  the  permission,  and  those  who  did  so,  for  the  most  part,  sunk  into 
sloth  and  misery,  or  returned  to  the  wilds,  and  resumed  the  savage 
life.  In  the  latter  cases,  the  Spaniards  employed  every  means  in 
their  power  to  retake  the  fugitives,  who  were,  indeed,  often  sent 
back  by  the  barbarians,  as  unworthy  of  enjoying  the  privileges  of 
freemen. 

The  Franciscans  did  not,  like  the  Jesuits,  exert  themselves  in 
procuring  information  respecting  the  countries  in  which  they 
resided ;  and  nothing  has  been  learnt  from  them  of  the  geogra- 
phy or  natural  history  of  the  part  of  California  which  they  occupied. 
In  1775,  Friars  Font  and  Garzes  travelled,  by  land,  from  Mexico, 
through  Sonora,  and  the  country  of  the  Colorado  River,  to  the 
mission  of  San  Gabriel,  in  California,  making  observations  on  their 
way,  with  the  view  to  the  increase  of  intercourse  between  Mexico 
and  the  establishments  in  the  latter  region.  They  were,  however, 
coldly  received  by  their  brethren,  who  informed  them  that  they  had 
no  desire  to  have  such  communications  opened ;  and  their  journal 
was  never  made  public.  In  the  same  year.  Friars  Dominguez  and 
Escalante,  of  the  same  order,  attempted  to  penetrate  westward 
from  Santa  Fe,  in  New  Mexico,  to  the  Pacific ;  but,  after  proceed- 
ing about  half  the  distance,  they  turned  back.  The  journals  of 
both  these  expeditions  are  still  preserved,  in  manuscript,  in  Mexico, 
where  they  have  been  consulted  by  Humboldt  and  other  travellers ; 
but  they  are,  from  all  accounts,  of  no  value. 

Between  1774  and  1779,  three  exploring  voyages  were  made, 
by  order  of  the  Spanish  government,  in  which  the  west  coasts  of 
America  were  examined,  as  far  north  as  the  60th  degree  of  latitude. 

The  first  of  these  voyages  was  conducted  by  Ensign  Juan  Perez, 
who  had  been  long  employed  in  the  Manilla  trade,  and  afterwards 
in  the  vessels  sailing  between  San  Bias  and  the  new  establishments 
on  the  Californian  coast.  He  was  accompanied  by  Estevan  Marti- 
nez, as  pilot,  and  Friars  Pena  and  Crespi,  as  chaplains,  from  whose 
journals,  as  well  as  from  those  of  the  commander,  the  following 
account  of  the  voyage  is  derived.* 

Perez  sailed  from  San  Bias  in  the  corvette  Santiago,  on  the  25th 


*  The  authorities  for  the  account  of  this  expedition  are  —  the  Narrative  composed  by 
Perez  for  the  viceroy  —  the  Journal  of  Friar  Tomasde  la  Peiia  —  and  the  Observations 
of  the  pilot  Martinez  —  manuscript  copies  of  which  have  been  procured  from  Madrid. 
The  Journal  of  Friar  Crespi  was  examined  by  Humboldt,  who  has  given  some  par- 
ticulars derived  from  it  in  his  Essay  on  Mexico.  Of  this  voyage  no  account  was  ever 
given  to  the  world  until  1802,  when  a  short  notice  of  it  appeared  in  the  Introduction 
to  the  Journal  of  the  Sutil  and  Mexicana. 


1774.] 


VOYAGE    OF    JUAN    PEREZ. 


115 


made, 
isis  of 
Ltitude. 
Perez, 
jrwards 
hments 
Marti- 
whose 
[lowing 

25th 

Iposed  by 
ervations 
Madrid, 
jme  par- 
Iwas  ever 
loduction 


of  January,  1774,  with  orders,  from  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  to 
proceed,  as  soon  as  possible,  northward,  to  the  60th  degree  of 
latitude,  and  then  to  survey  the  coasts  of  America  from  that  paral- 
lel, southward,  to  Monterey,  taking  possession,  for  the  king,  of 
every  place  at  which  he  might  land.  From  San  Bias  he  went  first 
to  San  Diego,  and  thence  to  Monterey,  from  which  latter  place  he 
took  his  departure,  on  the  16th  of  June,  for  the  north.  The 
weather,  as  usual  in  that  part  of  the  Pacific,  proved  stormy,  the 
winds  blowing  almost  constantly  from  the  north-west ;  so  that  it  was 
not  until  the  18th  of  July  that  the  Santiago  reached  the  54th  par- 
allel of  latitude,  under  which  land  was  first  seen  in  the  east.  The 
coast  thus  observed  was  high  and  rocky,  extending  southward  as  far 
as  the  eye  could  penetrate,  and  terminating,  in  the  north,  in  a  point, 
to  which  Perez  gave  the  name  of  Cape  Santa  Margarita.  In  the 
interior  was  seen  a  lofty,  snow-covered  range  of  mountains,  which 
he  called  the  Sierra  de  San  Cristoval.  On  approaching  the  shore, 
the  Spaniards  could  find  no  place  where  it  would  be  safe  to  anchor  ; 
and,  on  rounding  the  cape,  the  coast  beyond  it  was  found  to  stretch 
directly  westward.  By  this  time,  the  crew  were  beginning  to  show 
symptoms  of  scurvy,  the  weather  was  tempestuous,  and  the  vessel 
was  small,  and  badly  provided  in  every  respect ;  under  which  cir- 
cumstances, it  was  determined  that  no  attempt  should  be  made  to 
go  farther  north.  The  Spaniards  accordingly  steered  southward, 
along  the  coast,  for  about  a  hundred  miles,  and  were  then  driven 
otT  by  a  storm :  before  leaving  it,  however,  they  met  some  of  the 
natives,  in  t^eir  canoes,  with  whom  they  traded,  receiving  sea-otter 
and  other  •'aluable  skins  in  return  for  old  clothes,  knives,  shells, 
and  other  trifles. 

The  land  thus  discovered  was  the  west  side  of  the  large  island 
afterwards  named  (^ueen  Charlotte's  Island  by  the  British ;  Cape 
Santa  Margarita  being  the  north-easternmost  point,  now  called,  on 
English  maps,  Cape  North,  at  the  entrance  of  Dixon^s  Channel. 
Many  particulars  resj)ecting  the  people  of  these  coasts  are  recorded 
in  the  journals  of  the  Spaniards,  which  agree  precisely  with  the 
accounts  of  subsequent  navigators. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  Perez  again  made  the  land,  and  discov- 
ered, under  the  parallel  of  49  degrees  30  minutes,  a  deep  bay,  at 
the  entrance  of  which  he  anchored,  between  two  high  points,  one 
bearing  six  leagues  north-west,  the  other  two  leagues  south-east. 
Ere  long,  his  vessel  was  surrounded  by  canoes,  filled  with  natives  of 
the  country,  who  readily  engaged  in  trade  with  his  crew :  they  are 


w 


!  ?  i 


1   -'1  •  -i 


% 


I 

] 

1 1 

:  ■ '             .i'i 

1  * 

i' 

S^  i 


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a, 

liii''--; 


J  ■ 

1  .    1 

,.v- 

I      '     ■' 

;fi?'ii 


116 


VOYAGE    OF    JUAN    PEREZ. 


[1774. 


represented,  in  the  journal  of  Friar  Pena,  as  having  Hghter  complex- 
ions than  other  aborigines  of  America;  like  those  farther  north, 
they  were  clad  in  skins,  their  hats  being,  however,  made  of  rushes, 
curiously  plaited  and  painted,  of  a  conical  shape,  with  a  knob  on  the 
top.  To  the  surprise  of  the  Spaniards,  they  had  many  knives, 
arrow-points,  and  other  articles,  of  iron  and  copper,  though  it  did 
not  appear  that  they  had  held  any  intercourse  with  civilized  people. 
To  this  bay  Perez  gave  the  name  of-  Port  San  Lorenzo,  in  honor 
of  the  saint  on  whose  day  it  was  first  seen  ;  it  is  undoubtedly  the 
same  which,  four  years  afterwards,  received,  from  Captain  Cook, 
the  appellation  of  King  Georgc\'^  or  NootJca  Sound.  The  point 
north-west  of  its  entrance,  called,  by  the  Spaniards,  Cape  Santa 
Clara,  is  the  JVoodi/  Point  of  the  English ;  and  the  other  point  — 
the  Cape  San  Estcvan  of  Perez  —  corresponds  precisely,  in  situa- 
tion and  all  other  particulars,  as  described,  with  the  Point  Breakers 
of  the  English  navigator. 

From  Pert  San  Lorenzo,  the  Spaniards  sailed  along  the  coast 
southward ;  and,  in  the  latitude  of  47  degrees  47  minutes,  they 
beheld,  at  a  distance  in  the  interior,  on  the  east,  a  lofty  mountain, 
covered  with  snow,  which  they  named  Sierra  ih  Santa  Rosalia  — 
probably  the  Mount  Olympus  of  the  English  maps.  Martinez,  the 
pilot  of  the  Santiago,  many  years  after,  thought  proper  to  remem- 
ber that  he  had  also  observed,  between  the  48th  and  the  41)ih 
parallels,  a  wide  opening  in  the  land,  and  that  he  had  given  his  own 
name  to  the  point  on  the  south  side  of  its  entrance.  Of  this 
observation  no  note  appears  in  the  journals  of  the  voyage ;  yet, 
upon  the  strength  of  the  tardy  recollection  of  the  pilot,  his  country- 
men have  claimed  for  him  the  merit  of  rediscovering  the  Strait  of 
Juan  de  Fuca,  and  have  allixed  the  name  of  Cape  Martinez,  in 
their  charts,  to  the  point  of  the  continent  where  that  passage  joins 
the  Pacific.  Continuing  his  voyage  to  the  south,  Perez,  on  the  iilst 
of  August,  passed  in  sight  of  Cape  Mendocino,  the  true  latitude  of 
which  he  first  determined ;  and,  on  the  i27th,  he  arrived  at  Mon- 
terey, whence  he,  after  some  time,  went  on  to  San  Bias. 

In  this  voyage,  the  first  made  by  the  Spaniards  along  the  north- 
west coasts  of  America  after  1603,  very  little  was  learned,  except 
that  there  was  land,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Pacific,  as  far  north 
as  the  latitude  of  54  degrees.  The  government  of  Spain,  perhaps, 
acted  wisely  in  concealing  the  accounts  of  the  expedition,  which 
reflected  little  honor  on  the  courage  or  the  science  of  its  navigators ; 
but    it   has    thereby  deprived  itself  of  the  means  of  establishing 


il' 


1775.] 


VOYAGE  OF  HECETA  AND  BODEGA. 


117 


beyond  question  the  claim  of  Perez  to  the  discovery  of  the  important 
harbor  called  Nootka  Sound,  which  is  now,  by  general  consent, 
assigned  to  Captain  Cook. 

Immediately  after  the  return  of  Perez  to  Mexico,  the  viceroy 
Bucareli  (the  same  officer  who,  as  governor  of  Buenos  Ayres,  had 
expelled  the  British  from  the  Falkland  Islands  in  1770)  ordered  that 
another  expedition  should  be  made  for  the  purpose  of  examining 
those  coasts  as  far  as  the  65th  degree  of  latitude,  to  which  they 
were  believed  to  extend  continuously  north-westward.     With  this 
object  the  Santiago  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Bruno  Heceta,  under  whom  Perez  was  to  go  as  ensign ;  and  she 
was  to  be  accompanied  by  a  small  schooner,  called  the  Sonora,  of 
which  Juan  de  Ayala  was  to  have  the  command,  and  Antonio 
Maurelle  to  be  j)ilot.     These  two  vessels,  having  been  equipped, 
and  provided  with  the  History  of  California  by  Venegas,  and  a  chart 
of  the  whole  north-west  coast  of  America,  constructed  according  to 
the  fancy  of  the  French  geographer  Bellin,  in  1766,*  sailed  together 
from  San  Bias,  on  the  15th  of  March,  1775,  in  company  with  the 
sciiooner  San  Carlos,  bound  for  Monterey,  f     Ere  they  had  lost  sight 
of  tlie  land,  however,  the  captain  of  the  San  Carlos  became  delirious, 
in  consequence  of  which  Ayala  was  ordered  to  take  his  place,  the 
command  of  the  Sonora  being  transferred  to  Lieutenant  Juan  Fran- 
cisco de  la  Bodega  y  Quadra.     These  circumstances  are  mentioned, 
bcciiuse,  in  nearly  all  the  abstracts  of  the  accounts  of  this  voyage 
hitherto  published,  Ayala  appears  as  the  chief  of  the  expedition ; 
whereas,  in  fact,  he  oidy  accompanied  the  exploring  vessels  to  a 
short  distance  from  San  Bias. 


'-'1: 

■  'I 


i 


m 


..  I 


north- 

except 

ir  north 

|)erlmps, 

which 

(igators ; 

)lishing 


*  Carte  ri'diiito  de  TOccan  st'|)teiitrional,  conipris  entre  I'Asie  ct  rAmerique, 
suivant  Ics  Decouvt-rtes  faiU's  par  Ics  Russos.     Par  N.  Bellin.    Paris,  17()G. 

t  or  this  expedition  no  less  than  five  separate  accounts  are  found  among  the 
manuscripts  obtained  from  iMadrid,  viz. :  the  official  narrative  of  the  whole,  drawn 
up  for  the  viceroy  of  Me.xico  —  the  Journal  of  Bodega  —  part  of  the  Journal  of 
Heceta,  showmg  his  course  atler  his  parting  with  Bodega  —  a  concise  narrative  by 
Bodega  —  and,  lastly,  the  Journal  of  Maurelle,  the  pilot  of  the  Sonora.  A  copy  of 
Maurelle's  Journal  was  obtained  in  Madrid,  soon  after  the  conclusion  of  the  voyage, 
from  which  an  Etiglish  translation  was  published  at  London,  in  1781,  by  the  Hon. 
Daines  Barriugton,  among  his  MiscellanUs.  This  translation,  though  very  inaccurate 
and  incomplete,  attracted  much  attention  at  the  time  of  its  appearance,  and  from  it, 
and  the  short  account  given  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiano  and 
Valdes,  all  the  information  respecting  the  voyage  has  been  hitherto  obtained.  Bar- 
rington's  Miscellanies  is,  however,  a  rare  book ;  and  the  notices  of  this  expi-ditiim 
contained  in  the  various  memoirs,  reports,  correspondence,  &c.,  relative  to  the  north- 
west coast,  are,  for  the  most  part,  taken  directly,  or  at  second  hand,  from  the  abstracts 
of  the  Journal,  given  by  Fleurieu  in  his  instructions  to  La  Perousc,  and  his  Intro- 
duction  to  the  Journal  of  Marchand,  which  are  both  filled  with  errors. 


•!;'5i 


\  ■  m 

■  U  r 

i  1  w\  m. 


; ;!' 


i ;.  ' 


hi,* 


'1   . 


'  \  »■*!' 


n  i 


118 


VOYAGE    OF    HECETA    AND    BODEGA. 


[1775. 


The  exploring  vessels,  after  parting  with  the  Suii  Carlos,  doubled 
Cape  Mendocino,  and,  on  the  10th  of  June,  anchored  in  a  small 
roadstead  beyond  that  promontory,  in  the  latitude  of  41  degrees 
10  minutes.  The  officers,  priests,  and  a  portion  of  the  men,  imme- 
diately landed,  and  took  possession  of  the  country,  in  the  name 
of  their  sovereign,  with  religious  solemnities,  bestowing  upon  the 
harbor  the  name  of  Port  Trinidad;  and  they  then  engaged  in 
repairing  their  vessels  and  obtaining  a  supply  of  water,  which 
afforded  them  employment  for  nine  days. 

During  this  period,  the  Spaniards  held  frequent  communications 
with  the  people  of  the  country,  who  dwelt  principally  on  the  banks 
of  a  small  stream,  named  by  the  navigators  Rio  de  las  Tortolas,  — 
Pigeon  River,  —  from  the  multitude  of  those  birds  in  its  vicinity. 
The  Indians  conducted  themselves  uniformly  in  the  most  peace- 
able fnanner,  and  appeared  to  be,  on  the  whole,  an  inoffensive  and 
industrious  race.  They  were  clothed,  for  the  most  part,  in  skins, 
and  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  in  the  use  of  which  they  were 
very  expert ;  their  arrows  were,  in  general,  tipped  with  copper 
or  iron,  of  which  metals  they  had  k.  ives  and  other  implements  — 
whence  procured  the  Spaniards  could  not  learn.  No  signs  of 
religious  feelings,  or  ceremonies  of  any  kind,  could  be  discovered 
among  them,  unless  their  howling  over  the  bodies  of  the  dead  may 
iL,e  considered  in  that  light. 

Having  completed  their  arrangements,  Heceta  and  Bodega  sailed 
from  Port  Trinidad  on  the  19th  of  June,  leaving  a  cross  erected 
near  the  shore,  with  an  inscription,  setting  forth  the  fact  of  their 
having  visited  the  place  and  taken  possession  of  it  for  their  sove- 
reign :  this  monument  the  Indians  promised  to  respect ;  and  they 
kept  their  word,  for  Vancouver  found  it  there  untouched  in  1793. 
The  Spaniards  considered  the  discovery  of  the  place  important :  the 
harbor  being,  according  to  their  journals,  safe  and  spacious,  and 
presenting  facilities  for  communication  between  vessels  and  the 
shore ;  and  the  surrounding  country  fruitful  and  agreeable.  Van- 
couver, however,  gives  a  much  less  favorable  view  of  the  harbor, 
which  he  pronounces  to  be  in  no  respect  a  secure  retreat  for 
vessels,  as  it  is  entirely  open  to  the  south-west  winds,  which  blow 
on  that  coast  with  the  utmost  violence  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year.  The  other  accounts  of  the  Spaniards,  respecting  the  place 
and  its  inhabitants,  are,  in  general,  confirmed  by  those  of  the  British 


navigator. 


The  Spaniards,  after  leaving  Port  Trinidad,  were  obliged  to  keep 


kr 


1775.] 


VOYAGE    OF    HECETA    AND    BODEGA. 


119 


to  keep 


at  a  distance  from  the  coast  for  three  weeks,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  they  again  came  in  sight  of  it,  in  the  latitude  of  43  degrees 
27  minutes.  From  that  parallel  they  examined  the  shore  towards 
the  south,  in  search  of  the  strait  said  to  have  been  discovered  by 
Juan  de  Fuca  in  1592,  the  entrance  of  which  was  placed,  in  Bellin's 
chart,  between  the  47th  and  the  48th  degrees  of  latitude ;  and,  having 
satisfied  themselves  that  no  such  opening  existed  there,  the  two 
vessels  cast  anchor  near  the  land,  though  at  some  distance  from 
each  other,  in  order  to  obtain  water  and  to  trade  with  the  natives. 

Here  a  severe  misfortune  befell  the  schooner  on  the  14th  of  July. 
Seven  of  her  men,  who  had  been  sent  ashore  in  her  only  boat, 
though  well  armed,  were  attacked  and  murdered,  immediately  on 
landing,  by  the  natives;  and  the  schooner  was  herself  in  much 
danger  of  being  taken  by  those  savages,  who  surrounded  her,  during 
the  whole  day,  in  great  numbers,  in  their  canoes,  and  were  with 
difficulty  prevented  from  boarding  her.  In  commemoration  of  this 
melancholy  event,  the  place  at  which  it  occurred  was  called  Punta 
de  Martires  —  Martyr's  Point;  it  is  in  the  latitude  of  47  degrees 
20  minutes,  and  on  English  maps  is  called  Grenville's  Point.  A 
small  island,  situated  a  few  miles  farther  north,  the  only  one  de- 
serving that  name  between  Cape  Mendocino  and  the  Strait  of  Fuca, 
was  also  named  Ma  de  Dolores  —  Isle  of  Sorrows :  twelve  years 
afterwards,  this  same  isle  received,  from  the  captain  of  the  ship 
Imperial  Eagle,  of  Ostend,  the  appellation  of  Destruction  Island, 
in  consequence  of  a  similar  massacre  of  some  of  his  crew  by  the 
Indians,  on  the  main  land  opposite. 

This  disaster,  together  with  the  wretched  condition  of  the 
schooner,  and  the  appearance  of  scurvy  in  the  crews  of  both  ves- 
sels, occasioned  a  debate  among  the  officers,  as  to  the  propriety  of 
continuing  the  voyage.  The  commander,  Heceta,  was  desirous  to 
return  to  Monterey,  in  which,  however,  he  was  opposed  by  his  own 
pilot,  Juan  Perez,  and  by  Bodega,  the  captain,  and  Maurelle,  the 
pilot,  of  the  schooner;  and,  their  opinions  having  been  given,  as 
usual  in  the  Spanish  service,  in  writing,  the  unwilling  assent  of  the 
commander  was  obtained,  and  the  voyage  towards  the  north  was 
resumed  on  the  20th  of  July.  Ere  they  had  proceeded  far  in  that 
direction,  the  vessels  were  separated  in  a  storm ;  whereupon  Heceta 
seized  the  opportunity  to  go  back  to  Monterey,  whilst  Bodega  per- 
severed in  his  determination  to  accomplish,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
objects  of  the  expedition. 

Heceta,  after  parting  with  the  schooner,  made  the  land  near  the 


'^ 


m 


-.1  . 


'1: 


120 


HECETA    DISCOVERS    A    GREAT    RIVER. 


[1775. 


in 


W^ 


m-i 


:il-...k. 


50th  degree  of  latitude,  (on  the  south-west  side  of  the  great  island 
of  Vancouver  and  Quadra,)  and,  passing  by  the  Port  San  Lorenzo, 
(Nootka  Sound,)  discovered  in  the  previous  year  by  Perez,  he  came 
on  the  coast  of  the  continent  near  the  48th  parallel,  without  observ- 
ing the  intermediate  entraij^e  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  for  which  he, 
however,  sought  between  the  47lh  and  48th  parallels.  Theace  he 
ran  along  the  shore  towards  the  south,  and,  on  the  15th  of  August, 
arrived  opposite  an  opening,  in  the  latitude  of  46  degrees  17  min- 
utes, from  which  rushed  a  current  so  strong  as  to  prevent  his  enter- 
ing it.  This  circumstance  convinced  him  that  it  was  the  mouth  of 
some  great  river,  or,  perhaps,  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  which  might 
have  been  erroneously  placed  on  his  chart:  he,  in  consequence, 
remained  in  its  vicinity  another  day,  in  the  hope  of  ascertaining 
the  true  character  of  the  place  ;  but,  being  still  unable  to  enter  the 
opening,  he  continued  his  voyage  towards  the  south.* 

On  the  opening  in  the  coast  thus  discovered  Heceta  bestowed 
the  name  of  Ensenadn  de  Asuncion  f  —  Assumption  Inlet ;  calling  the 
point  on  its  north  side  Cape  San  Roque,  and  that  on  the  south  Cape 
Frondoso  —  Leafy  Cape.  In  the  charts  published  at  Mexico,  soon 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  voyage,  the  entrance  is,  however,  called 
Ensenada  de  Heceta  —  Heceta' s  Inlet  —  and  Rio  de  San  Roque  — 
River  of  St.  Roc.  It  was,  undoubtedly,  the  mouth  of  the  greatest 
river  on  the  western  side  of  America  ;  the  same  which  was,  in  179*2, 
first  entered  by  the  ship  Columbia,  from  Boston,  under  the  command 
of  Robert  Gray,  and  has  ever  since  been  called  the  Columbia. 
The  evidence  of  its  first  discovery  by  Heceta,  on  the  15th  of  August, 
1775,  is  unquestionable. 

From  Assumption  Inlet,  Heceta  continued  his  course,  along  the 
shore  of  the  continent,  towards  the  south,  and  arrived  at  Monterey, 
with  nearly  two  thirds  of  his  men  sick,  on  the  30th  of  August.  In 
his  journal,  he  particularly  describes  many  places  on  this  part  of  the 
coast  which  are  now  well  known  ;  such  as  —  the  remarkable  promon- 
tory, in  the  latitude  of  45J  degrees,  with  small,  rocky  islets  in  front, 
named  by  him  Cape  Falcon,  the  Cape  Lookout  of  our  maps  —  the 
flat-topped  mountain,  overhanging  the  ocean,  a  little  farther  south, 
noted,  in  his  journal,  as  La  Mesa,  or  The  Table,  which,  in   1805, 


1' 


*  See  extract  from  the  Journal  of  Heceta,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations, 
under  the  letter  E,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume. 

t  The  15th  of  August  is  the  day  of  the  Assumption,  and  the  16th  is  the  day  of  St. 
Roque,  or  Roc,  and  St.  Jacinto,  or  Hyacinth,  according  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
calendar. 


1775. 

island 
»rcnzo, 
5  came 
jbscrv- 
icli  he, 
iiice  he 
\ugust, 
17  min- 
3  enter- 
outh  of 
\\  might 
quence, 
irtaining 
inter  the 

jcstowed 
ilUng  the 
ith  Cape 
ico,  soon 
LT,  called 
Roque  — 

greatest 

in  179-2, 
command 

'olumbin. 

August, 

|ilong  the 
[onterey, 
bust.     In 
tut  of  the 
promon- 
in  front, 
(ips  —  the 
jr  south, 
lin  1805, 

llustrations, 

day  of  St. 
Ln  Catholic 


1775.] 


VOYAGi:    OF    BODEGA    AND    MAURELLE. 


121 


li 


received,  from  Lewis  and  Clarke,  the  name  of  darkens  Point  of 
View  —  and  the  numerous  rocky  points  and  reefs  bordering  the 
shore,  between  those  places  and  Cape  Mendocino. 

Meanwhile,  Bodega  and  Maurclle,  in  their  little  vessel,  were 
striving,  if  possible,  to  reach  the  65th  degree  of  latitude,  agreeably 
to  the  instructions  of  the  viceroy.  With  this  object,  after  their 
separation  from  Heceta,  they  advanced  towards  the  north,  without 
seeing  land,  until  they  had  passed  the  56th  degree  of  latitude,  when 
they  unexpectedly  beheld  it,  on  the  16th  of  August,  at  a  great  dis- 
tance in  the  north,  and  much  nearer  on  the  east ;  though,  by 
Bellin's  chart,  and  their  own  calculations,  they  should  have  been 
one  hundred  and  thirty-Hve  leagues  from  any  part  of  America. 
Steering  towards  the  east,  they  discovered  a  lofty  mountain,  rising 
from  the  ocean  in  the  form  of  a  beautiful  cone,  and  covered  with 
snow,  occupying  the  whole  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  peninsula, 
projecting  from  the  main  land  of  an  extensive  and  elevated  ter- 
ritory :  this  mountain  innnediately  received  the  name  of  San  Jacinto, 
in  honor  of  St.  Hyacinth,  on  whose  day  it  was  discovered,  the  pro- 
jecting point  of  land  which  it  occupied  being  called  Cape  Engaiio, 
or  False  Cape.  In  the  angles  between  this  supposed  peninsula  and 
the  main  land  were  two  bays,  or  sounds,  of  which  the  northernmost 
was  named  Port  Remedios,  and  the  other  Port  Gtiadtlnpe,  after 
the  two  celebrated  shrines  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city  of  Meyi^o. 
There  is  no  difiiculty  in  identifying  any  of  these  places,  as  described 
in  the  journals  of  the  Spanish  voyage.  They  are  situated  on  the 
west  side  of  the  largest  island  of  the  group  distinguished,  on 
English  maps,  as  King  George  IWs  Archipelago :  Mount  San 
Jacinto  was,  three  vears  afterwards,  named  bv  Cook  Mount 
Edgecumb ;  Port  Remedios  is  the  Bay  of  Islands  of  the  same 
navigator,  and  Port  Guadelupe  is  the  Norfolk  Sound  of  the 
English  geographers.  The  two  bays  have  since  been  found  to  com- 
municate with  each  other  by  a  narrow  passage,  which  completely 
separates  the  main  land  from  the  mountain.  The  Spaniards  landed 
on  the  shore  of  Port  Remedios,  where  they  took  possession  of  the 
country  agreeably  to  the  formalities  prescribed,  and  obtained  some 
water  and  salmon  for  the  supply  of  their  vessel.  While  thus  en- 
gaged, they  were  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  natives  of  the  country, 
who  appeared  to  be  more  savage  and  determined  than  those  of  any 
other  part  of  the  coast,  and  also  to  entertain  very  distinct  ideas 
of  their  own  superior  rights  of  property  and  domain.  Thus  the 
Spaniards  were  obliged  to  pay,  not  only  for  the  fish,  but  also  for 
16 


/  > 


i«» 


',1 1'( 


1  •' 


!-"    if 
'Mi 


■*S 


fl 


11: 


i   ' 


11.1 


I 


m 


i. 


Mi 

Hi 


',  ■!  ■ 


122 


THE    SPANIARDS    ON    THEIR    RETURN. 


[1776. 


the  water  taken  away  by  them ;  and  the  cross,  and  other  marks 
which  they  planted  on  the  shore,  were  torn  up  immediately  on  their 
departure,  and  treated  with  every  indignity  by  the  savages. 

The  voyage  was  resumed  on  the  20th  of  August,  and  was  con- 
tinued along  the  coast,  to  the  58th  degree  of  latitude,  beyond  which 
it  was  found  impossible  to  proceed,  as  nearly  all  on  board  were,  from 
fatigue  and  sickness,  incapable  of  performing  duty,  whilst  the  winds 
were  daily  increasing  in  violence,  and  rendering  greater  exertions 
necessary.  They  accordingly,  on  the  2"2d,  turned  towards  the  south ; 
and,  having  passed  Mount  San  Jacinto,  they  approached  the  coast, 
in  order  to  seek  for  the  Rio  de  Reyes,  the  great  river  through  which 
Admiral  Fonte  was  said  to  have  penetrated  far  into  the  interior 
of  the  American  continent,  in  1640.  "  With  this  intent,"  writes 
Maurelle,  in  his  journal,  "  we  examined  every  bay  and  recess  of  the 
coast,  and  sailed  around  every  head-land,  lying  to,  during  the  night, 
in  order  that  we  might  not  miss  this  entrance ;  after  which  exer- 
tions, we  may  safely  pronounce  that  no  such  passage  is  to  be 
found."  This  conclusion  was  certainly  correct,  but  it  was  as 
certainly  not  established  by  the  exertions  of  the  Spaniards  on  this 
occasion :  for,  in  the  first  place,  they  confined  their  search  to  the 
pait  of  the  coast  north  of  the  54th  parallel,  whereas,  in  the 
account  of  Fonte's  voyage,  the  Rio  de  Reyes  is  made  to  enter  the 
Pacific  under  the  53(1 ;  and,  had  their  observations  been  as  minute 
as  Maurelle  represents  them,  several  passages  woidd  have  been 
found,  leadin<T  from  the  ocean  towards  the  north  and  east,  for  the 
complete  examination  of  any  one  of  which,  more  time  would  have 
been  required  than  was  spent  by  the  Spaniards  in  their  whole 
search.  Of  the  many  openings  in  that  part  of  the  coast,  the  only 
one  penetrated  by  these  navigators  was  the  extensive  bay,  named, 
by  them.  Port  Bucareli,  in  the  latitude  of  55A  degrees,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  largest  island  of  the  group  called,  on  English 
maps,  the  Prince  of  Wales's  Archipelago,  where  they  landed,  and 
took  possession,  on  the  24th  of  August.  Thence  proceeding  south- 
ward, they  made  the  north-east  extremity  of  Queen  Charlotte's 
Island,  which  had  received,  from  Perez,  in  the  preceding  year,  the 
name  of  Cape  Santa  Margarita ;  and  they  observed,  immediately 
north  of  that  point,  the  wide  passage  which  they  called  Entrada  de 
Perez  —  the  DixoiCs  Entrance  of  the  English  maps,  separating 
Queen  Charlotte's  from  the  Prince  of  Wales's  Islands. 

From  Cape  Santa  Margarita,  the  Spoaiards  sailed  slowly  towards 
the  south,  frequently  seeing  the  land,  though  always  at  too  great  a 


r: 


'  f 


775. 

narks 
their 

con- 

A^hich 

,  from 

winds 

;rtions 

south ; 

coast, 

vvliich 

nterior 

writes 

of  the 

!  night, 

11  exer- 
to  be 

was  as 

on  this 
to  the 
in   the 

Uer  the 

minute 

e  been 

for  the 

|U1  have 
whole 

|he  only 
named, 
on  the 
English 
led,  and 
south- 
larlotte's 
car,  the 
lediately 
Urada  de 
parating 

I  towards 
great  a 


1775.] 


RETUHN    OF    BUUCQA. 


123 


distance  to  be  able  to  make  any  useful  observations,  except  as  to  the 
general  direction  of  the  shores,  until  the  1 9th  of  Scpteinlicr,  when 
they  found  themselves  opposite  the  spot,  near  the  47th  degree  of 
latitude,  where  their  men  had  been  murdered  by  the  natives  two 
months  before.  Leaving  that  place,  they  next  came  on  the  coast 
in  the  latitude  of  45  degrees  27  minutes,  from  which  parallel  they 
carefully  examined  the  shores  southward,  to  the  42d,  in  search  of 
the  great  river,  said  to  have  been  seen  by  Martin  de  Aguilar,  in 
1603,  as  related  in  the  account  of  Vizcaino's  voyage.  Their  obser- 
vations induced  them  to  conclude  that  no  such  river  entered  the 
Pacific  from  that  part  of  the  continent,  though  they  perceived 
strong  currents  oiitsetting  from  the  land  in  several  places ;  they, 
however,  believed  that  they  recognized  the  Cape  Blanco  of  Aguilar, 
near  which  the  mouth  of  his  river  was  said  to  be  situated,  in  a  high, 
flat-topped  promontory,  with  many  white  clilVs  upon  it,  projecting 
far  into  the  sua,  under  the  parallel  of  42  degrees  and  50  minutes  — 
the  same,  no  doubt,  afterwards  named  Caj'c  OrJ'onl  by  Vancouver. 
Having  com|)leted  this  examinati.-n,  they  bore  olV  to  sea,  and, 
rounding  Cape  Mendocino,  they,  on  the  3(1  of  October,  discovered 
a  bay  a  little  north  of  the  3Sth  degree  of  latitude,  which  they 
entered,  supposing  it  to  be  Port  San  Francisco;  but  it  proved  to  be 
a  smaller  bay,  not  described  in  any  pr(!vious  account,  and  Podi^ga 
accordingly  bestowed  on  it  his  own  name,  which  it  still  bears. 
Having  made  a  hasty  survey  of  Port  Bodega,  the .  Spaniards  sailed 
to  Monterey,  and  thence  to  San  Bias,  where  they  arrived  on  the 
20th  of  November,  after  a  voyage  of  more  than  eight  months. 

In  this  expedition,  the  commander,  Heceta,  certainly  ac(|uired  no 
laurels,  though  he  etlected,  at  U^iist,  one  discovery,  from  which  a  nation 
more  enterprising  and  powerful  than  Spain  might  have  derived  im- 
portanl  advantages.  Bodega  and  Maurelle,  however,  nobly  vindicated 
the  cliaracter  of  their  countrymen,  by  their  constancy  and  persever- 
ance in  advancing  through  unknown  seas,  at  a  stormy  period  of  the 
year,  in  their  small  and  miserably-equipped  vessel,  with  a  diminished 
crew,  the  greater  part  of  whom  were  laboring  under  that  most  debil- 
itating and  disheartening  of  diseases,  the  scurvy.  Fortunately  for 
their  reputation,  a  copy  of  Maurelle's  journal  escaped  from  its 
prison-house  in  the  archives  of  the  Indies  at  Madrid,  and  was  given 
to  the  world,  in  an  English  version,  before  the  appearance  of  any 
other  authentic  account  of  the  parts  of  the  world  which  they  had 
explored  ;  and,  by  this  means,  together  with  the  publication  of  their 
chart  about  the  same  vime,  their  claims  as  discoverers  were  estab- 


I  111 


.\ 


I    1<K 


m 


'% 


■'[' 


1':ii*ky 


1'24 


IMPOnTANCE    or    TIlKSf.    DISCOVERIES. 


[1775. 


i.t'i 


#l|i 


u 


I*(:! 


lished  beyond  nil  cavil.  Thus,  without  reference  to  the  voyage  of 
Perez,  it  is  conchisively  provc^d  that  the  Spaniards,  in  1775,  exam- 
ined with  minuteness  the  whole  western  shore  of  the  American 
continent,  from  Monterey,  near  the  ;j7th  degree  of  latitude,  north- 
ward, to  and  beyond  the  48th  degr(;e,  and  determined  the  general 
direction  of  the  west  coasts  of  the  westernmost  islands,  bordering 
the  continent  between  the  48th  parallel  and  the  58th.  Of  these 
coasts,  the  portion  south  of  the  4J3d  degree  of  latitude  had  been 
seen  by  Ferrelo,  in  1543,  and  possibly  by  Drake,  in  1578;  Juan  de 
Fuca  had  probably  sailed  along  them  to  the  .53d  parallel,  in  1593; 
and  the  Russians,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown,  had  discovered  the  part 
near  the  56th  parallel,  in  1741  :  but  no  definite  information  had  been 
obtained,  respecting  any  point,  on  the  Pacific  side  of  America, 
between  Cape  Mendocino  and  Mount  San  Jacinto,  previous  to  the 
expedition  of  Perez.  The  geographical  positions  of  the  places 
visited  by  the  Spanish  navigators  in  1774  and  1775,  were,  indeed, 
left  very  uncertain  as  regards  their  longitudes,  though  the  latitudes 
have  been  found  nearly  correct ;  yet  the  great  question  as  to  the 
extension  of  North  America  towards  the  west  was  approximately 
answered,  and  useful  hints  were  afforded  for  the  organization  and 
conduct  of  future  voyages. 

The  results  of  this  expedition  were  considered,  by  the  Spanish 
government,  as  highly  important ;  a  short  notice  of  them  was 
published  in  the  official  gazette,  at  Madrid,  which  was  copied,  with 
many  additions,  (nearly  all  of  them  erroneous,)  into  the  London 
newspapers ;  *  and  orders  were  sent  to  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  to 

*  "  Several  Spanish  frigates  having  been  sent  from  Aeapnico  to  make  diacoveries, 
and  to  propagate  tlie  gospel  among  the  Indians,  to  the  nortli  of  California,  in  the 
month  of  July,  1744,  they  navigated  as  liigh  up  on  the  roast  as  the  latitude  of  '}S 
degrees  20  minutes,  six  degrees  above  Cape  Blanro  Having  diseovercd  several 
good  harbors  and  navigable  rivers  upon  the  west  roast  »)f  this  great  eontinent,  they 
established,  in  one  of  the  largest  ports,  a  garrison,  and  ealled  tiie  p(»rt  the  Presidio 
tic  Sun  Carlos,  and,  besides,  left  a  mission  at  every  port  where  the  inhabitants  were 
to  be  found.  The  Indians  they  here  met  with  are  said  to  be  a  very  doeile  sort  of 
people,  agreeable  in  their  countenance,  Imnest  in  their  tratlic,  and  neat  in  tln'ir  dress, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  idolaters  to  the  greatest  degree,  having  never  before  had  any 
intercourse  with  Europeans.  M.  Bucarelli,  the  viceroy  of  New  Spain,  has  received 
Ijis  Catholic  majesty's  thanks  for  these  discoverii's,  as  tiiey  were  made  under  his 
direction  ;  and  the  several  navy  oHicers  upon  that  voyage  have  been  preferred.  It  is 
im  igined  that  those  new  discoveries  will  be  very  advantageous,  as  the  coast  abounds 
witii  whales,  as  also  a  fish,  equal  to  the  Newfijundland  cod,  known,  in  Spain,  by  the 
name  of  narralao." 

The  above  notice  appears  in  the  London  Annual  Register  for  1776,  under  date  of 
June  2<Sth,  which  was  a  few  days  before  the  departure  of  Captain  Cook  from  England 
for  the  North  Pacific. 


'f : 


panish 

was 

,  with 

ondon 

tico,  to 

M)vcric9, 
in  the 
de  of  r>8 
sfvcrnl 
•lit,  they 
Presidio 
ntH  were 
sort  of 
■ir  dross, 
had  any 
rocoived 
indcr  his 
>d.     It  is 
abounds 
1,  by  the 

date  of 
I  England 


1779.] 


VOYAGE  or  ARTKAOA  AND  BODEGA. 


185 


hnvc  the  discovery  of  the  west  rousts  of  America  completed  with- 
out «l('lny,  under  the  cure  of  the  same  ofHeers  who  hn<l  uhcndy 
efl'eeted  so  much  for  that  oliject.  With  this  view,  the  viceroy, 
Bueareh,  ordered  u  hir^'e  ship  to  he  buiU  at  San  Hhis,  and  anoth(>r 
was,  at  the  same  time,  constructed  at  Ciuayaquil,  in  Quito.  In 
these  preparations,  nearly  three;  years  were  consumed,  so  that  the 
vessels  we're  not  ready  for  the  expedition  until  the  hepnnin^'  of 
1771);  they  then  (|uitted  San  Bias,  un(h;r  the  command  of  Captain 
Ignacio  Arteaga,  who  sailed  in  the  lar^'er  ship,  the  Vr'nmsa,  the 
other,  called  the  Favorita,  being  connnanded  by  Bodega,  with  Mau- 
relle  as  second  ollicer.     Ileceta  had  been  transferred  to  new  duties. 

Of  this  voyage  a  short  notice  will  sutRce,  as  all  the  places  dis- 
covered in  the  course  of  it  had  b(  en  visited,  and  minutely  examined, 
in  the  preceding  year,  1778,  by  the  Knglish,  under  Captain  James 
Cook.* 

On  the  7th  of  February,  1779,  Arteaga  and  Bodega  sailed  from 
San  Bias  directly  for  I'ort  Bucareli,  which  they  entered  after  a 
voyage  of  four  months ;  and  there  they  remained  nearly  two  months, 
engaged  in  surveying  the  bay,  in  refitting  their  vessels,  and  in 
trading  with  the  native's,  of  whom  v<'ry  minute  and  interesting 
accounts  are  given  in  the  journals  of  this  voyage.  From  Port 
Bucareli  they  sailed  northward,  on  the  1st  of  July,  and  in  a  few 
days  saw  the  land  stretching  before  them  from  north-east  to  north- 
west :  on  approaching  it,  they  behtild  rising  from  the  coast  a  great 
mountain,  "  higher  than  Orizaba,"  which  was,  no  doubt,  Mount  St. 
Elins  ;  and  they  began  their  search,  west  of  these  places,  for  a  pas- 
sage leading  northwards  into  the  Arctic  Sea,  as  laid  down  in  the 
charts  of  Bellin,  which  they  carried  with  them.  In  the  course  of 
this  search,  they  entered  a  great  bay,  containing  many  islands,  on 
the  western  side  of  the  largest  of  which,  called  by  them  Isia  dc  la 
Mtifilakna,  thev  found  a  good  harbor,  where  thev  cast  anchor  on 
the  'ibi\\,  and  took  possession  of  the  whole  region  for  the  king  of 
S|)ain.  From  this  harbor,  named  by  the  Spaniards  Port  Santiago, 
parties  were  sent  out  in  boats  to  explore  the  coasts ;  but  the  com- 

*  Tlie  pnptTs  rolativf  to  this  voyage,  which  have  been  obtained,  in  manuscript, 
from  the  hydrosjrraphipal  department  at  Madrid,  are  —  the  otlicial  account  of  the  whole 
expedition  —  and  the  journals  'if  Bodega  and  Maurelle  —  accompanied  by  several  tables 
of  the  navigation,  and  vocabularies  of  Indian  languages,  and  the  chart  of  the  coast 
about  Prince  William's  Sound,  which  is  utterly  worthless.  A  translation  of  a  part 
of  Maurelle's  journal  may  be  found  in  the  first  volume  of  the  narrative  of  the  expedi- 
tion of  La  Perouse,  accompanied  by  some  severe,  and  not  altogether  just,  reflections 
on  the  conduct  of  the  Spanish  navigators  in  general. 


II 


i 


,1 


'^' 


M 


.'ill 


126 


SPAIN    AT    WAR    WITH    GREAT    BRITAIN. 


:    I!. 

if 

r  '^ 


^:ii 


[1779. 


mander,  Arteaga,  becoming  anxious  to  return  to  Mexico,  soon  found 
that  the  men  were  beginning  to  suffer  from  scurvy,  that  the  pro- 
visions were  faihng,  and  that  there  was  no  probabihty  of  their  dis- 
covering any  passage,  through  which  they  might  penetrate  farther 
north  ;  and  he,  in  consequence,  resolved  that  both  vessels  should 
immediately  proceed  to  Monterey.  They  accordingly  sailed  from 
Port  Santiago  on  the  7th  of  August ;  on  the  15th  of  October 
they  entered  Port  San  Francisco,  and  on  the  21st  of  November 
they  arrived  at  San  Bias,  "  where,"  says  Fleurieu,  with  more  justice 
than  usually  characterizes  his  remarks  on  Spanish  voyages,  "  they 
might  have  passed  the  whole  time  which  they  spent  in  their  expedi- 
tion, without  our  knowledge  in  geography  having  sustairied  any  loss 
by  their  inaction."  The  voyage  was,  in  fact,  productive  of  no 
benefit  whatsoever,  and  the  Spanish  government  should  have  been 
mortified  at  its  results ;  instead  of  which,  however,  the  officers 
engaged  in  it  were  all  promoted,  for  their  good  conduct  and 
exertions. 

Of  the  places  visited  by  Arteaga  and  Bodega,  after  leaving  Port 
Bucareli,  the  great  bay,  called  by  them  Ensehada  de  Reglo,  is  now 
generally  known  by  the  name  of  Prince  Jf  imam's  Sound,  and  their 
Lla  de  la  Magdalena  is  the  Montagitc^s  Island  of  the  English  ma|)s. 
It  is  needless  to  mention  any  other  of  the  many  appellations  given 
by  the  Spaniards  to  capes,  bays,  islands,  and  mountains,  in  that 
part  of  America,  as  they  have  fallen  into  disuse. 

In  1779,  Spain  became  involved  in  war  witli  Great  Britain,  and 
her  flag  did  not  again  appear  on  the  coasts  north  of  Cape  Mendo- 
cino until  1788.  Before  relating  the  events  which  occurred  in  that 
interval,  it  will  be  proper  to  present  an  account  of  the  discoveries 
effected  in  the  North  Pacific,  since  the  commencement  of  the  cen- 
tury, by  the  Russians  occupying  the  north-eastern  extremity  of 
Asia. 


i 


[1779. 

I  found 
»e  pro- 
i\r  dis- 
farther 
should 
d  from 
Dctober 
(veinber 
;  justice 
,  "they 
expedi- 
any  loss 
e  of  no 
ive  been 
officers 
uct   and 

/ing  Port 
1,  is  now 
and  their 
ish  maps, 
ms  given 
in  that 

[tain,  and 

Mendo- 

!d  in  that 

iscoveries 

the  cen- 

imity  of 


127 


CHAPTER   V. 


1711  TO  1779. 

Discoveries  of  the  Russians  from  Kaintciiatka  —  Voyages  of  Bering  and  Tchirikof  to 
the  Arctic  Sea  and  to  the  American  Continent — Establishments  of  the  Russian 
Fur  Traders  in  the  Aleutian  Islands  —  Voyages  of  Synd,  Krenitzin,  and  Levashef 
—  First  Voyage  from  Kamtchatka  to  China,  made  by  Polish  Exiles  under  Ben- 
yowsky  —  General  Inaccuracy  of  the  Ideas  of  the  Russians  respecting  the  Geogra- 
phy of  the  nortiiernmost  Coasts  of  the  Pacific,  before  1779. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  coasts  of  Asia 
on  the  Pacific,  north  of  the  40th  parallel  of  latitude,  were  as  little 
known  as  those  of  America  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  ocean. 

In  164.3,  Martin  Geritzin  de  Vries  and  Hendrick  Schaep,  two 
Dutch  navigators,  commanding  the  ships  Kastrikom  and  Breskens, 
explored  the  seas  near  Japan,  as  far  north  as  the  48th  degree  of 
latitude,  and  probably  entered  tlie  great  gulf,  called  the  Sea  of 
Ochotsk,  between  the  main  land  of  Asia  on  the  west,  and  Kamt- 
chatka and  the  Kurile  chain  of  islands  on  the  east.  It  is  also 
related,  that  Thomas  Peclie,  an  English  bucanier,  sailed  along  the 
same  coasts  in  1(373,  while  in  search  of  the  Strait  of  Anian,  the 
entrance  of  which  he  was  said  to  have  found  north  of  Japan, 
though  he  was  unable  to  pass  through  it,  on  account  of  the  violence 
of  the  winds  from  the  north. 

From  such  imperfect  accounts  the  m.ips  of  that  part  of  the  world 
were  generally  constructed,  before  1750.  In  those  maps,  Jesso,  the 
northernmost  of  the  Japan  Islands,  appears  as  part  of  the  Asiatic 
continen*  and  Kamtchatka  and  the  Kurile  Islands  are  represented 
as  one  extensive  territory,  under  the  name  of  the  Compamfs  Land, 
united  to  America  on  the  east,  and  separated  from  Jesso  on  the 
west,  by  a  narrow  passage  called  the  Strait  of  tries,  or  the  Strait 
of  Anian. 

In  1711,  the  whole  of  Northern  Asia  had  been  completely  sub- 
jugated by  the  Russians,  to  whom  the  rich  furs  *  abounding  in  those 

•  See  the  article  on  Furs  and  the  Fur  Trade,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations  at 
the  concluding  part  of  this  volump,  under  the  letter  B. 


<l 


•v 


1 

Si 


u4 


^  ■:::;  I. 


11 


i.  i 


111 

'1 


Si>?"l: 


f'f'l*^.'' 


1 

\^- 

f-3 

Ul 

1 

V- 

'ivr  ■^' 

il 

i'      '   -: 

^  ^  ■' 

-1' ' ;  -  *!i 

IV' 

II; 


128 


PLANS    OF    PETER   THE    GKEAT. 


[1728. 


regions  proved  as  attractive  as  the  gold  and  silver  of  America  were 
to  the  Spaniards.  In  the  course  of  their  expeditions,  the  Russians 
had  traced  the  northern  shores  of  Asia,  to  a  considerable  distance 
eastward  from  Europe,  and  they  had  formed  establishments  on  those 
of  the  peninsula  of  Kamtchatka.  But  they  had  not  yet,  by  their 
discoveries,  afforded  the  means  of  determining  whether  Asia  and 
America  were  united  on  the  north  into  one  continent,  or  were  sepa- 
rated by  a  direct  communication  between  the  Pacific  and  the  ocean 
north  of  Asia,  called  the  Arctic  or  Icy  Sea  •  nor,  indeed,  was  it 
ascertained  that  the  sea  around  Kamtchatlia  was  a  part  of  the 
Pacific,  though  it  was  generally  believed  to  be  so,  from  the  traditions 
preserved  by  the  natives  of  that  peninsula,  of  large  ships  having 
been  wrecked  on  their  coasts.* 

By  these  conquests  the  Russians  had  been  enabled  to  secure,  in 
addition  to  the  other  advantages,  a  commercial  intercourse  with 
China,  which  was  carried  on,  agreeably  to  a  treaty  concluded  in 
1689,  by  caravans,  passing  between  certain  great  marts  in  each 
empire.  But  the  ambitious  czar  Peter,  who  then  filled  the  Russian 
throne,  was  not  content  with  such  acquisitions ;  he  was  anxious  to 
know  what  territories  lay  beyond  the  sea  bounding  his  dominions 
in  the  east,  and  whether  he  could  not,  by  directing  his  forces  in 
that  way,  invade  the  establishments  of  the  French,  the  British,  or 
the  Spaniards,  in  America.  With  these  views,  he  ordered  that 
vessels  should  be  built  in  Kamtchatka,  and  equipped  for  voyages  of 
discovery,  to  be  made  according  to  instructions  which  he  himself 
drew  up ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  other  vessels  should  proceed 
from  Archangel,  on  the  White  Sea,  eastward,  to  explore  the  ocean 
north  of  Europe  and  Asia,  in  search  of  a  navigable  communication, 
or  north-east  passage,  through  it  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

Various  circumstances  prevented  the  execution  of  any  of  these 
projects  during  the  lifetime  of  Peter.  His  widow  and  successor, 
Catharine,  liowever,  resolved  to  carry  them  into  fulfilment ;  and  a 
small  vessel  was,  at  length,  in  1728,  completed  and  prepared  at  the 
mouth  of  the  River  of  Kamtchatka,  on  the  north-east  side  of  that 
peninsula,  for  a  voyage  of  discovery,  to  be  made  agree.ibly  to  the 
instructions  of  the  great  czar.  The  command  of  the  expedition 
was  intrusted  to  Vitus  Bering,  a  Dane,  who  had  been  selected  for 

*  The  particulars  related  in  the  present  chapter  are  derived,  principally,  from  the 
History  of  Kamtchatka,  by  Krascheninikof — the  Account  of  the  Russian  Voyages 
from  Asia  to  Ainorina,  by  MuUer  —  and  the  Account  of  the  Discoveries  of  the  Russians 
in  the  North  Pacific,  by  Coxe,  the  last  edition  of  which,  published  in  1803,  is  the 
most  complete  work  on  the  subject. 


728. 


1728.] 


BERING  S    VOYAGE    TO    THE    ARCTIC    SEA. 


129 


were 
isians 
lance 
those 

their 
1  and 

sepa- 
occan 
ivas  it 
of  the 
ditions 
having 

;ure,  in 
se  with 
ided  in 
in  each 
Hussian 
fious  to 
minions 
orces  in 
itish,  or 
red  that 
ages  of 
himself 
proceed 
ic  ocean 
ication, 
icific. 
if  these 
iccessor, 
and  a 
Id  at  the 
of  that 
to  the 
Ipedition 
;ted  for 

,  from  the 
Voyages 
Russians 

h03,  is  the 


the  purpose  by  Peter,  on  account  of  his  approved  courage  and 
nautical  skill ;  his  lieutenants  were  Alexei  Tchirikof,  a  Russian,  and 
Martin  Spangberg,  a  German,  each  of  whom  afterwards  acquired 
reputation  as  a  navigator. 

Bering  was  instructed,  first  —  to  examine  the  coasts  north  and 
east  from  Kamtchatka,  in  order  to  determine  whether  or  not  they 
were  connected  with,  or  contiguous  to,  America;  and  next  —  to 
reach,  if  possible,  some  port  belonging  to  Europeans  on  the  same 
sea.  With  these  objects  he  sailed  from  Kamtchatka  River,  on  the 
14th  of  July,  1728,  and,  taking  a  northward  course  along  the  Asiatic 
shore,  he  traced  it  to  the  latitude  of  67  degrees  18  minutes:  there 
he  found  the  coast  turning  almost  directly  westward,  and  presenting 
nothing  but  rocks  and  snow,  as  far  as  it  could  be  perceived,  whilst 
no  land  was  visible  in  the  north  or  east.  From  these  circumstances 
the  navigator  concluded  that  he  had  reached  the  north-eastern  ex- 
tremity of  Asia,  that  the  waters  in  which  he  was  sailing  were  those 
of  the  Icy  or  Arctic  Sea,  bounding  that  continent  on  the  north,  and, 
consequently,  that  he  had  ascertained  the  fact  of  the  separation  of 
Asia  from  America.  Being  satisfied,  therefore,  that  he  had  attained 
the  objects  of  his  voyage  u.  that  direction,  and  fearing  that,  if  he 
should  attempt  to  advance  ■■■  he  might  be  obHged  to  winter  in 

those  desolate  regions,  for  ■  i  -  he  was  unprepared,  he  returned 
to  Kamtchatka,  where  he  arrived  on  the  2d  of  September.  All  his 
conclusions  have  been  since  verified ;  he,  however,  little  suspected 
that  he  had,  as  was  the  fact,  twice  passed  within  a  few  leagues  of 
the  American  continent,  through  the  only  channel  connecting  the 
Pacific  with  the  Arctic  Sea.  When  the  existence  of  this  channel 
was  satisfactorily  determined,  it  received,  by  universal  consent,  the 
name  of  Seringas  Strait,  which  it  still  bears. 

In  the  ensuing  year,  Bering  attempted  to  reach  the  American 
continent,  by  sailing  direci'y  eastward  from  Kamtchatka ;  but,  ere 
he  had  proceeded  far  in  that  course,  he  was  assailed  by  violent 
adverse  storms,  which  forced  his  vessel  around  the  southern  extrem- 
ity of  the  peninsula,  into  the  Gulf  of  Ochotsk.  He  then  went  to 
St.  Petersburg,  from  which  he  did  not  return  to  engage  in  another 
voyage  of  discovery  until  twelve  years  afterwards. 

While  Bering  thus  remained  at  the  Russian  capital,  the  existence 
of  a  direct  communication  between  the  sea  which  bathes  the  shores 
of  Kamtchatka  and  the  Pacific  was  proved,  —  first,  in  1729,  by  the 
wreck  of  a  Japanese  vessel  on  the  coast  of  tlie  peninsula,  —  and,  ten 
years  afterwards,  by  the  voyages  of  two  Russian  vessels,  under 
17 


I 


I 


m 


M 


m 


m 


130 


DISCOVERIES    OP    SPANGBERO    AND    KRUPISCHEP. 


[1740. 


'I  .■  ■ 


r  I 


lj,;,i:| 


i^ 


-Fit 


Martin  Spangberg  and  William  Walton,  from  Ochotsk,  through  the 
passages  between  the  Kurile  Islands,  to  Japan.  Within  the  same 
period,  also,  the  connection  of  the  Pacific  with  the  Atlantic,  by  the 
Arctic  Sea,  north  of  Europe  and  Asia,  had  been  ascertained  by 
means  of  expeditions,  partly  on  land  and  partly  on  sea,  along  the 
northernmost  shores  of  the  continents ;  though  all  the  attempts 
made  then,  and  since,  to  pass,  in  one  vessel,  around  those  coasts, 
from  Europe  to  the  Pacific,  have  proved  abortive.  Moreover,  a 
Russian  commander,  named  Krupischef,  had  sailed,  in  1732,  from 
Kamtchatka,  northward,  as  far  as  the  extreme  point  of  Asia,  which 
had  been  reached  by  Bering  in  his  first  voyage ;  and  he  had  thence 
been  driven,  by  storms,  eastward,  upon  the  coast  of  an  extensive 
mountainous  territory,  which  was  supposed  to  be,  and  doubtless 
was,  a  part  of  America.  Thus  the  great  geographical  fact  of  the 
entire  separation  of  Asia  and  America  was  supposed  to  be  deter- 
mined ;  and  all  doubts  as  to  the  practicability  of  navigating  between 
the  Russian  dominions,  in  the  former  continent,  and  those  of  Spain, 
in  the  latter,  were  dissipated. 

These  discoveries  encouraged  the  empress  Anne,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne  of  Russia  in  1730,  to  persevere  in  endeavoring 
to  extend  her  authority  farther  eastward ;  and  she  accordingly 
commissioned  Bering,  in  1740,  to  make  another  expedition  from 
Kamtchatka,  in  search  of  America.  For  this  purpose,  two  vessels 
were  built  in  the  Bay  of  Avatscha,  on  the  south-east  side  of  Kamt- 
chatka, which  had  been  selected  for  the  establishment  of  a  marine 
depot ;  and  scientific  men  were  engaged,  in  France  and  Germany, 
to  accompany  Bering,  in  order  that  precise  information  might  be 
obtained  on  all  j)oints  connected  with  the  seas  and  territories  to  be 
explored. 

Before  the  preparations  were  completed,  the  empress  Anne  died  ; 
but  her  successor,  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Peter  the  Great, 
immediately  declared  her  determination  to  prosecute  the  enterprise ; 
and,  no  delays  being  experienced,  the  vessels  sailed  together  from 
the  Bay  of  Avatscha,  on  the  4th  of  June,  1741.  The  larger  vessel, 
called  the  St.  Peter,  was  commanded  by  Bering ;  the  other,  the  St. 
Paul,  by  Tchirikof,  who  had  accompanied  the  Dane  in  his  previous 
voyages.  On  leaving  the  harbor,  they  took  an  eastern  course,  and 
continued  together  until  the  21st  of  the  month,  when  they  were 
separated  during  a  violent  gale,  after  which  they  never  met  again. 

Of  Bering's  voyage,  after  his  separation  from  Tchirikof,  the  only 
definite  accounts  are  contained  in  the  journal  cf  Steller,  the  surgeon 


P. 


i 


740. 

li  the 
same 
>y  the 
id  by 
ig  the 
empts 
coasts, 
iver,  a 
I,  from 

which 
thence 
:tensive 
jubtless 

of  the 
}  deter- 
3et\veen 
f  Spain, 

lad  suc- 
eavoring 
^ordingly 
ion  from 
o  vessels 

f  Kamt- 
marine 

ermany, 
might  be 
les  to  be 


1741.] 


BERING  S    VOYAGE    TO    AMERICA. 


131 


M\ 


and  naturalist  of  the  ship,  which  was  first  pubhshed,  in  the  original 
German,  by  Professor  Pallas,  in  1795.  Before  that  year,  all  that 
was  known  on  the  subject  was  derived  from  a  meagre  and  incorrect 
abstract  of  the  same  journal,  in  Muller's  collections  of  Russian 
history.  Steller  is  by  no  means  precise  on  points  of  navigation 
and  geography,  in  consequence  of  which  very  few  spots  described 
by  him  can  now  be  identified,  although  the  general  course  of  the 
voyage  may  be  ascertained. 

From  Steller's  journal,  we  learn  that  Bering,  after  parting  with 
Tchirikof,  sailed  south-eastward,  as  far  as  the  46th  degree  of  lati- 
tude ;  and,  not  reaching  Ameri  ^,  he  then  altered  his  course  to  the 
north-east,  in  which  he  continued  until  the  18th  of  July,  when  land 
was  seen  ahead,  nearly  under  the  60th  parallel  of  latitude.  The 
point  first  descried  by  the  Russians  was  a  mountain  of  such  extra- 
ordinary height,  as  to  be  visible  at  the  distance  of  more  than  eighty 
miles :  on  advancing  towards  it,  other  peaks,  and  then  ridges, 
apjicared,  stretching  along  the  coast,  and  into  the  interior,  to  the 
utmost  limits  of  the  view;  and,  on  entering  a  narrow  passage, 
between  the  main  land  and  an  island,  where  they  anchored  on  the 
:<Oth,  they  perceived  a  strong  current  of  discolored  water  issuing 
(Voin  it,  which  convinced  them  that  a  large  river  emptied  into  the 
sea  in  its  vicinity.  From  these  indications  of  the  extensiveness  of 
the  territory,  together  with  its  geographical  position,  they  concluded 
ti;at  they  had,  at  length,  reached  the  American  continent ;  and  the 
officers  thereupon  entreated  their  commander  to  pursue  the  dis- 
covery towards  the  south-east,  in  which  direction  the  coast  trended. 
But  Bering  was  then  enfeebled  in  mind,  as  well  as  in  body,  by 
severe  illness,  and  was  anxious  to  return  to  Kamtchatka  ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which,  he  resisted  their  entreaties,  and,  after  a  supply  of 
water  had  been  obtained  from  the  island,  they  set  sail  for  the  west. 
None  of  the  crew  were  allowed  to  go  on  the  main  land,  lest  they 
should  be  cut  oti'  by  savages.  On  the  island  were  found  several 
huts,  which  seemed  to  have  been  recently  abandoned,  and  various 
implements  of  fishing,  hunting,  and  cooking,  similar  to  those  used 
by  the  Kamtchatkans ;  of  the  natives.  howev(!r,  not  one  was  seen. 

According  to  Steller,  the  name  of  Cape  St.  Elios  was,  much  to 
his  discontent,  bestowed  on  this  island,  or  some  other  in  its  vicinity, 
because  it  was  reached  on  the  day  of  St.  Elias,  agreeably  to  the 
Russian  calendar.  The  old  accounts  of  the  expedition,  however, 
state  that  Bering  honored  with  the  name  of  that  saint  the  lofty 
mountain  which  had  first  attracted  his  attention ;  and,  under  this 


.1  ,. 


-ti*' 


132 


BERING    ON    THE    AMERICAN    COAST. 


[1741. 


14 


>■  t  (■  l««v, . 


'.fl-l      \ 


impression,  Cook,  when  he  -"xplored  the  north-west  coast  of  Amer- 
ica, in  1778,  applied  the  name  of  Mount  St.  Elias  to  a  stupendous 
peak  which  he  observed,  rising  from  the  shore,  under  the  60th 
parallel,  believing  it  to  be,  as  it  most  probably  was,  the  same  dis- 
covered by  the  Russians  in  1741.  Vancouver,  who  examined  this 
coast  minutely  in  1794,  was  convinced  that  the  place  where  the 
Russians  first  ancioved  is  on  the  eastern  side  of  a  bay  at  the  foot 
of  Mount  St.  Elia^,  on  the  east,  which  is  called  Admiralty  or 
Bering's  Bay,  on  English  maps,  and  Yakutat  on  those  of  the 
Russians.  The  current  of  discolored  water,  setting  out  from  that 
part  of  the  coast,  was  observed,  in  1838  by  Belcher. 

After  their  departure  from  the  islahd,  the  Russians  continued 
sailing  westward,  occasionally  seeing  the  land  in  the  north,  until  the 
3d  of  August,  when,  in  the  latitude  of  56  degrees,  they  beheld  a 
chain  of  high  mountains,  (those  of  the  great  peninsula  of  Aliaska, 
and  the  contiguous  island  of  Kodiak,)  stretching  before  them  from 
north  to  south.  Upon  discovering  this  impediment  to  their  prog- 
ress, they  turned  to  the  south-west,  in  order  to  reach  the  53d 
parallel,  under  which  they  were  sure,  from  their  observations  in 
coming  out,  that  they  should  find  an  open  sea  to  Kamtchatka :  but 
their  course  was  so  much  retarded  by  violent  opposing  winds,  that 
they  had  scarcely  advanced  sixty  miles  before  the  end  of  the  month  ; 
and,  being  then  exhausted  by  fatigue  and  sickness,  they  anchored 
among  a  group  of  small  islands,  on  one  of  which  they  remained 
ashore  several  days.  There  they  first  saw  natives  of  America,  who 
resembled  the  aborigines  of  Northern  Asia  in  their  features  and 
habits,  and  were  provided  with  knives,  and  other  articles  of  iron 
and  copper ;  although  they  appeared  never  before  to  have  held 
any  intercourse  with  civilized  people.  There,  also,  occurred  the 
first  death  among  the  Russians,  in  commemoration  of  which,  the 
name  of  the  deceased  sailor,  Schumasrin,  was  bestowed  on  the 
group.  The  islands  now  so  called  are  about  ten  in  number,  situated 
near  the  latitude  of  55^  degrees,  on  the  eastern  side,  and  not  far 
from  the  extremity  of  Aliaska. 

On  quitting  the  Schumagin  Islands,  the  Russians  continued  their 
course  south-westward,  and  passed  by  other  islands,  which  were 
those  of  the  Aleutian  Archipelago,  extending  westward  from  Aliaska, 
nearly  under  the  53d  parallel.  They  were  then  assailed  by  furious 
storms,  and  were,  for  nearly  two  months,  driven  over  the  seas  at 
random,  while  famine,  disease,  and  despair,  were  daily  lessening 
their  numbers.     "The  general  distress  and  mortality,"  says  Steller, 


741. 

imer- 
idous 
60th 
3  dis- 
i  this 
•e  the 
e  foot 
Ity   or 
3f  the 
n  that 

itinued 
ntil  the 
^held  a 
Vliaska, 
ni  from 
ir  prog- 
he   53d 
tions  in 
ka:  but 
ids,  that 
month ; 
inchored 
emained 
ica,  who 
ires  and 
of  iron 
ive  held 
rred  the 
lich,  the 
on   the 
situated 
not  far 

lied  their 
tch  were 
Aliaska, 
ly  furious 
seas  at 
llessening 
Is  Steller, 


1741.] 


DEATH    OF    BERING. 


133 


'*  increased  so  fast,  that  not  only  the  sick  died,  but  those  who  pre- 
tended to  be  healthy,  when  relieved  from  their  posts,  fainted  and 
fell  down  dead ;  of  which  the  scantiness  of  the  water,  the  want  of 
biscuits  and  brandy,  cold,  wet,  nakedness,  vermin,  and  terror,  were 
not  the  least  causes."  At  length,  on  the  5th  of  November,  they 
again  saw  land,  which  proved  to  be  an  island,  in  the  latitude  of  55 
degrees ;  and  on  it  they  resolved,  at  all  hazards,  to  pass  the  winter. 
With  this  view,  they  anchored  in  the  most  secure  place  which  could 
be  found,  close  to  the  shore,  and,  having  landed  their  stores  and 
other  necessaries,  they  began  the  construction  of  huts  out  of  sails 
and  spars ;  but  they  soon  had  an  abundant  supply  of  materials  from 
the  wreck  of  their  vessel,  which  was  dashed  in  pieces  on  the  island 
by  the  waves. 

On  the  8th  of  December  Bering  expired,  worn  down  by  sickness, 
fatigue,  and  disappointment,  and  thirty  of  the  crew  were  consigned 
to  their  graves  on  the  island  before  the  ensuing  summer.  The  sur- 
vivors recovered  their  health,  and  obtained  a  sufficiency  of  food,  by 
hunting  the  sea  and  land  animals,  which  were  found  in  great  num- 
bers on  and  about  the  shores.  As  soon  as  the  mild  season  returned, 
they  collected  the  pieces  of  the  wreck,  of  which  they  made  a  small 
vessel ;  and,  having  provisioned  it  as  well  as  they  could,  they  set 
sail  from  the  western  side  of  the  island  on  the  14lh  of  August,  1742. 
Two  days  after,  they  made  the  coast  of  Kamtohatka;  and,  continuing 
along  it  towards  the  south,  they,  on  the  evening  of  the  27th,  landed, 
forty-six  in  number,  at  the  |)lace  in  the  Bay  of  Avatscha  from  which 
they  had  taken  their  departure  fifteen  months  before.  The  island, 
on  which  they  had  thus  passed  more  than  nine  months,  is  situated 
about  eighty  miles  from  the  eastern  shore  of  Kamtchatka,  between 
the  latitudes,  of  51i  and  55i  degrees,  and  has,  ever  since  its  dis- 
covery, been  called  lierimr's  Isle ;  it  consists  entirely  of  granite 
mountains. 

Such  were  the  occurrences,  and  the  unfortunate  termination,  of 
Bering's  voyage. 

Tchirikof,  likewise,  pursuing  an  eastward  course,  discovered  land 
in  the  latitude  of  56  degrees.  It  was  a  mountainous  territory,  with 
steep,  rocky  shores,  extending  on  the  ocean  from  north  to  south ; 
and,  the  weather  being  unfavorable  for  approa(^hing  it,  ten  men  were 
sent  in  a  boat  to  make  examinations.  As  these  did  not  return,  after 
some  time,  nor  make  any  signal  from  the  sliore,  six  others  were 
despatched  in  search  of  them,  whose  reappearance  was  also  ex- 
pected in  vain;  and  Tchirikof  was  obliged,  at  length,  to  quit  the 


i 


>  i-i 


1  ''  fei-wT 


134 


VOYAGE    OF    TCHIRIKOF. 


[1741. 


I  ;' 


I  'R^ 
J  '1 

IT' 


■  •■'''. 


m^ 


Mi^ 


v^m 


'! 

1 

' 

J 

^ 

1 

H 

it 

coast  without  learning  what  had  befallen  any  of  them.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  scurvy  had  broken  out  among  his  crew  ;  and  as  t!ie 
stormy  season  was  approaching,  he  resolved  to  hasten  back  to  Kamt- 
chatka.  His  voyage  thither  was  attended  with  great  difficulties, 
and  before  the  8th  of  October,  when  he  reached  Avatscha,  he  had 
lost  twenty-one  men  by  sickness,  including  the  distinguished  French 
naturalist  Delile  de  Croyere,  in  addition  to  the  sixteen  whose  fate 
was  undelermine<l.  The  land  discovered  by  him  must  have  been, 
agreeably  to  the  account  given  of  its  latitude  and  bearings,  the 
western  side  of  one  of  the  islands,  named,  on  English  maps,  the 
Prince  of  fValcis  Airhipclas^o.,  the  inhabitants  of  which  are  remark- 
able for  their  fierceness  and  hatred  to  strangers.  It  is,  therefore, 
most  probable  that  the  nien  sent  ashore  by  Tchirikof  were  murdered 
as  soon  as  they  landed. 

These  discoveries  of  the  Russians  excited  some  attention  in 
Europe,  where  they  were  made  known,  first,  by  the  periodical  pub- 
lications of  France,  England,  and  Germany,  and  afterwards  more 
fully,  by  the  scientific  men  and  historians  of  those  countries.  In 
1750,  a  long  memoir  on  the  subject  was  read  by  the  French  geog- 
rapher Delisle,  before  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris,*  wherein 
he  gives  the  highest  praise  to  the  Russian  navigators,  and  pro- 
nounces, as  proved  by  their  expeditions,  "■  that  the  eastern  portion 
of  Asia  extends  under  the  polar  circU;,  towards  the  western  part  of 
America,  from  which  it  is  se|iarated  by  a  strait  about  thirty  leagues 
wide ;  this  strait  is  often  frozen  over,  but,  when  free  from  ice,  it 
aflbrds  communication  for  vessels  into  the  Frozen  Ocean." 

The  Russian  government  did  not.  however,  consider  the  dis- 
coveries of  its  subjects  as  sufficiently  important  to  justify  the  imme- 
diate despatch  of  other  vessels  in  the  same  direction  ;  and  no 
further  attempts  to  explore  the  North  Pacific  were  made  by  its 
authority  until  1766.  In  the  mean  time,  accidental  circumstances, 
cormected  with  Bering's  last  voyage,  had  drawn  the  attention  of 
individuals  in  Eastern  Asia  to  the  islands  seen  by  that  navigator, 
on  his  return  towards  Kamtchatka  ;  and  the  part  of  the  ocean  in 
which  those  islands  lie  had  been  thoroughly  searched. 

It  has  been  mentioned,  that  the  crew  of  Bering's  vessel,  during 
the  period  passed  by  them  in  the  island,  near  Kamtchatka,  had  sub- 
sisted chi(!fly  on  the  flesh  of  the  sea  and  land  animals  found  there. 
The  skins  of  these  animals,  particularly  of  the  black  foxes  and  sea 
otters,  were  preserved  by  the  men,  and  carried  with  them  to  Kamt- 

*  Histoire  de  I'Acadfiiuip  Royale  des  Sciences,  for  1750,  p.  142. 


1741. 

n  the 
as  the 
Kunit- 
;ulties, 
lie  Imd 
French 
se  fate 
!  been, 
lis,   tliC 


1760.] 


VOYAQBS    OF    RUSSIAN    FUH   THADERS. 


135 


ps, 


tlie 


remark- 
crcfore, 
urdercd 

ition  in 
cal  pub- 
ds  more; 
ries.     In 

eh  v^coii- 
whcrein 

and  pio- 
porlion 
part  ol 
leaiiucs 

|m  ice,  it 

the   dis- 
\e  iinnu;- 

and  no 
Ic  by  its 
nistances, 
:ntion  of 
navigator, 

ocean  in 

|el,  during 

liad  sub- 

md  there. 

and  sea 

to  Kamt- 


chatka,  where  they  were  sold  at  such  high  prices,  that  several  of 
the  seamen,  as  well  as  other  persons,  were  induced  immediately  to 
go  to  the  island  and  procure  further  supplies.  In  the  course  of  the 
voyages  made  for  this  purpose,  other  islands,  farther  east,  which  had 
been  seen  by  Bering  and  Tchirikof,  were  explored,  and  found  to 
oft'er  the  same  advantages ;  and  the  number  of  persons  employed  in 
seeking  furs  was  constantly  increasing. 

The  trade  thus  commenced  was,  for  some  time,  carried  on  by 
individual  adventurers,  each  of  whom  was  alternately  a  seaman,  a 
hunter,  and  a  merchant;  at  length,  however,  some  capitalists  in 
Siberia  employed  their  funds  in  the  pursuit,  and  expeditions  to  the 
islands  were,  in  consequence,  made  on  a  more  extensive  scale,  and 
with  greater  regularity  and  efficiency.*  Trading  stations  were  estab- 
lislied  at  particular  points,  where  the  furs  were  collected  by  persons 
left  for  that  object ;  and  vessels  were  sent,  at  stated  periods,  from 
tlie  ports  of  Asiatic  Russia,  to  carry  the  articles  required  for  the  use 
of  the  agents  and  hunters,  or  for  barter  with  the  natives,  and  to 
bring  away  the  skins  collected. 

The  vessels  employed  in  this  commerce  were,  in  all  respects, 
wretched  and  insecure,  the  planks  being  merely  attached  together, 
tvithout  iron,  by  leathern  thongs ;  and,  as  no  instruments  were  used 
by  the  traders  for  determining  latitudes  or  longitudes  at  sea,  their 
ideas  of  the  relative  positions  of  the  places  which  they  visited  were 
vague  and  incorrect.  Their  navigation  was,  indeed,  performed  in 
the  most  simple  and  unscientific  manner  possible.  A  vessel  sailing 
from  th'!  Bay  of  Avatscha,  or  from  Cape  Lopatka,  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  Kamtchatka,  could  not  have  gone  far  eastward,  without 
falling  in  with  one  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  which  would  serve  as  a 
mark  for  her  course  to  another ;  and  thus  she  might  go  on,  from 
point  to  point,  throughout  the  whole  chain.  In  like  manner  she 
would  return  to  Asia,  and,  if  her  course  and  rate  of  sailing  were 
observed  /ith  tolerable  care,  there  could  seldom  be  any  uncertainty 
as  to  whether  she  were  north  or  south  of  the  line  of  the  islands. 
Many  vessels  were,  nevertheless,  annually  lost,  in  consequence  of 

*  Tho  islands  discovorod  and  frcquontcd  by  the  Russian  fur  traders  woro  those 
called  the  .lleyutnlnj,  or  .ileutiiin,  extendinif  in  a  line  nearly  alonjr  the  alW  parallel 
of  latitude,  from  tiie  south-west  extremity  of  the  peninsula  Aliaska,  across  the  sea, 
to  tiie  vicinity  of  Kamtriiatka.  Aliaska  was,  like\vis««,  supposed  to  be  an  island, 
until  1778,  when  its  connection  with  tiie  American  continent  was  ascertained  by 
Cook.  The  inhabitants  of  these  islands  were  a  bold  rjice,  who,  for  some  time, 
resisted  the  Russians,  but  were  finally  subdued,  after  their  numbers  had  been  con- 
siderably reduced. 


' 


ii: 


.Itl  ' 


':  1. 


'.  ^1  1 1 


t;  'Ji 


-1' , 


1-      :     .     ,M'M 


}m 


I 


lis 


136 


VOYAOKS    or    RUSSIAN    FUK    TRADKKS. 


[1760. 


this  want  of  knowledge  of  the  coasts,  and  want  of  means  to  ascer- 
tain positions  at  sea ;  and  a  large  nninber  of  those  engaged  in  the 
trade,  moreover,  fell  victims  to  cold,  starvation,  and  scurvy,  and  to  the 
enmity  of  the  bold  natives  of  the  islands.  Even  as  lately  as  1806,* 
it  was  calculated  that  one  third  of  these  vessels  were  lost  in  each 
year.  The  history  of  the  Russian  trade  and  establishments  on  the 
North  Pacific,  is  a  scries  of  details  of  dreadful  disast'^rs  and  suffer- 
ings ;  and,  whatever  opinions  may  be  entertained  as  to  the  humanity 
of  the  adventurers,  or  the  morality  of  their  proceedings,  the  courage 
and  perseverance  displayed  by  tiiem,  in  struggling  against  such 
appalling  difficulties,  must  command  universal  admiration. 

The  furs  collected,  by  these  means,  at  Avatscha  and  Ochotsk,  the 
principal  fur-trading  ports,  were  carried  to  Irkutsk,  the  capital  of 
Eastern  Siberia,  whence  some  of  them  were  taken  to  Europe ;  the 
greater  portion  were,  however,  sent  to  Kiakta,  a  small  town  just 
within  the  Russian  frontier,  close  to  the  Chinese  town  of  Maimatchin, 
through  which  places  all  the  conunerce  between  these  two  empires 
passed,  agreeably  to  a  treaty  concluded  at  Kiakta,  in  17J28.  In 
return  for  the  furs,  which  brought  higher  prices  in  China  than  any 
where  else,  teas,  tobacco,  rice,  porcelain,  anil  silk  and  cotton  goods, 
were  brought  to  Irkutsk,  whence  all  the  most  valuable  of  those 
articles  were  sent  to  Europe.  These  transportations  were  effected 
by  land,  except  in  some  places,  where  the  rivers  were  used  as  the 
channel  of  conveyance ;  no  commercial  exportation  having  been 
made  from  Eastern  Russia,  by  sea,  before  1779:  and,  when  the 
immense  distances,!  between  some  of  the  points  above  mentioned, 
are  considered,  it  becomes  evident  that  none  but  objects  of  great 
value,  in  comparison  with  their  bulk,  at  the  place  of  their  con- 
sumption, could  have  been  thus  transported,  with  profit  to  those 
engaged  in  the  trade,  and  that  a  large  portion  of  the  price  paid  by 
the  consumer  must  have  been  absorbed  by  the  expense  of  trans- 
portation. A  skin  was,  in  fact,  generally  worth,  at  Kiakta,  three 
times  as  much  as  it  cost  at  Ochotsk. 

The  Russian  government  appears  to  have  remained  almost  en- 
tirely unacquainted  with  the  voyages  and  discoveries  of  its  subjects, 


*  Krusenstern's  journal  of  his  voyage  to  the  North  Pacific. 

t  In  the  following  table,  each  number  expresses  nearly  the  distance,  in  geographical 
miles,  between  the  places  named  on  either  side  of  it :  — 

St.  Petersburg,  460,  Moscow,  1500,  Tobolsk,  1800,  Irkutsk,  1550,  Yakutsk,  600, 
Ochotsk,  1300,  Petropawlowsk,  on  the  Bay  of  Avatscha;  Irkutsk,  300,  Kiakta, 
1000,  Pekin. 


;l 


1760. 

ascer- 
n  the 
to  the 
806* 
1  each 
on  the 
suffer- 
manity 
ourage 
it  such 

tsk,  the 
pital  of 
pe ;  the 
wn  just 
natchin, 
empires 
"28.     In 
han  any 
n  goods, 
of  tliose 
effected 
li  as  the 
ng  been 
hen  the 
nlioned, 
of  great 
leir  con- 
Ito  those 
paid  by 
>f  trans- 
three 

lost  en- 
subjects, 


Dgraphical 

itsk,  600, 
Kiakta, 


1768.] 


VOYAOK    OK    KHKNIT2.IN'    AND    LK.VASCUKF. 


137 


W 


engaged  in  the  fur  trade  of  the  North  Pac^ific,  until  1764,  when  the 
empress  Catharine  II.  ordered  that  proper  measures  should  be 
taken  to  procure  exact  information  with  regard  to  the  islands,  and 
the  American  coasts,  opposite  her  dominions  in  Asia.  This  am- 
bitious sovereign  had  then  just  ascended  the  throne,  arid  was,  or 
chose  to  apjiear,  determined  to  carry  out  the  views  of  Peter  the 
Great  for  the  extension  of  the  Russian  empire  eastward  beyond  the 
Pacific. 

Agreeably  to  the  orders  of  Catharine,  Lieutenant  Synd  sailed,  in 
1766,  from  Ochotsk,  and  advanced  northward,  along  the  coast  of 
Knmtchatka,  as  far  as  the  66th  degree  of  latitude  ;  and,  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  he  made  another  voyage  in  the  same  direction,  in 
wliich  he  is  supposed  to  have  landed  on  the  American  continent. 
Very  few  particulars  respecting  his  expeditions  are,  however,  known, 
us  the  Russian  government  appears  to  have  suppressed  all  accounts 
of  them,  for  reasons  which  have  been  suggested,  but  which  it  is 
unnecessary  here  to  repeat. 

In  1768,  another  expedition  was  commenced,  for  the  purpose  of 
surveying  the  islands.  With  this  object.  Captains  Krenitzin  and 
Levaschef  quittetl  the  mouth  of  Kamtchatka  River,  in  July,  each 
ooiiimanding  a  snmll  vessel ;  and,  after  cursorily  examining  Bering's 
Isle,  and  others  near  the  coast  of  the  peninsula,  they  stretched 
across  to  the  Fox  Islands,  the  largest  and  easternmost  of  the  Archi- 
pclasjn.  among  which  they  passed  the  winter.  Before  the  ensuing 
summer,  nearly  half  the  crews  of  both  vessels  had  perished  from 
scurvy ;  and,  when  the  navigators  returned  to  Kamtchatka,  in 
October,  1769,  they  had  done  nothing  more  than  to  ascertain,  ap- 
proximately, the  geographical  positions  of  a  few  points  in  the  Aleu- 
tian chain.  It  appears,  indeed,  that  Krenitzin  had  employed  him- 
self exclusively  in  collecting  furs,  with  which  his  vessel  was  laden 
on  her  arrival  from  her  voyage.  The  only  valuable  informtL'ion  ob- 
tained by  the  Russian  government,  through  this  costly  expedition, 
related  to  the  mode  of  conducting  the  fur  trade  between  Kamt- 
chatka and  the  islands  ;  upon  which  subject  the  reports  of  Levaschef 
were  curious  and  instructive,  and  served  to  direct  the  government 
in  its  first  administrative  dispositions,  with  regard  to  the  newly- 
discovered  territories. 

The  expedition  of  Krenitzin  and  Levaschef  was  the  last  made  by 

the  Russians  in   the   North   Pacific,   for  purposes  of  discovery  or 

investigation,  before  178:j.     In   1771,  however,  took  |)lace  the  first 

voyage  from  the  eastern  coast  of  the  empire,  to  a  port  frequented 

18 


1 


lUii' 


.■i 


SI 

:    i 
1  • 

I, 

1 

1 

1 

* 


Ui 


»■  I;  . 


!'   I 


,!• 

i! 

'ni 

1          ^  ..;          '        1 

138 


VOYA<*K    (»K    BKNVOWSKY. 


(1771. 


by  the  ships  of  Kiiropcan  nntions ;  nnd,  strange  to  sny,  this  voyogo 
was  conducted  under  \\\c  Polish  Jlai* !  In  th<!  nicith  of  May  of 
that  y<!ar,  a  few  persons,  chiefly  Poles,  who  Imd  been  exiled  to 
Kamtchalka  for  political  reasons,  succeeded  in  over|)owering  the 
garrison  of  the  small  town  of  Rolscherctsk,  on  the  south-west  side 
of  Kanitchatka,  where  they  were  detained,  and  escaped  to  sea  in 
a  vessel  then  lying  in  the  harbor.  They  were  directed  in  their 
enterprise  by  Count  Maurice  de  Bcuiyowsky,  a  Hungarian,  who  had 
been  an  otHcer  in  the  Polish  service,  and  from  whose  history  of  his 
own  life,  afterwards  published,  all  the  accounts  of  their  adventures 
are  derived.  From  these  accounts,  it  appears  that  the  fugitives,  on 
entering  the  Pacific,  were  driven  northward  as  far  as  the  66th 
degree  of  latitude ;  during  which  part  of  their  voyage,  they  fre- 
quently saw  the  coasts  of  both  continents,  and  visited  several  of 
the  Aleutian  Islands.  At  Bering's  Isle  they  found  a  number  of 
fugitive  exiles,  like  themselves,  established  in  possesiiion,  under  the 
command  of  a  Saxon  ;  and  ut  Unalashka,  the  largest  of  the  group, 
they  discovered  crosses,  with  inscriptions,  erected  by  Krenitzin,  in 
1768.  Iroceeding  thence  towards  the  south,  they  touched  at 
several  places  in  the  Kurile,  Japan,  and  Loochoo  Islands,  as  also 
at  Formosa;  and,  at  length,  in  September,  they  arrived  at  Canton, 
where  they  carried  the  first  furs  which  ever  entered  that  city  by  sea.* 
A  circumstantial  account  of  the  principal  voyages  and  discoveries 
of  the  Russians,  made  between  1741  and  1770,  drawn  from  original 
sources,  was  published  at  St.  Petersburg,  in  1774.  by  J.  L.  Stiehlin, 
councillor  of  state  to  the  empress.f  These  records  are  curious  and 
interesting,  but  they  throw  very  little  light  on  the  great  geographical 
questions  relative  to  that  part  of  the  world,  which  then  remained 
unsolved  ;  and  the  accompanying  chart  only  serves,  at  present,  to 
show  more  conspicuously  the  value  of  the  discoveries  effected  by 
other  nations.  According  to  this  chart,  the  American  coast  ex- 
tended, on  the  Pacific,  in  a  line  nearly  due  north-west  from  Cali- 

*  Memoirs  an<i  Trnvola  of  Mauricp  Augustus  Count  de  Bonyowsky,  written  by 
himself,  publislied  at  London,  in  17iK).  Benyowskys  account  of  his  escape  from 
Kamtchatka,  and  his  voj'age  to  Cliina,  were  for  some  time  discredited  ;  but  they  have 
since  been  confirmed,  at  least  as  regards  the  principal  circumstances.  He  afterwards 
had  a  variety  of  adventures,  especially  in  Madajrascar,  of  which  he  pretended  to  be 
the  rightful  sovereign  ;  and  he  was,  at  length,  killed  at  Foul  Point,  in  that  island,  in 
May,  ITHi,  while  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  Europeans  and  natives,  in  a  contest  with 
the  French  from  the  Isle  of  France. 

t  Description  of  the  newly-discovered  Islands  in  the  Sea  between  Asia  and 
Amerien.  A  Translation  of  the  greater  part  of  this  work  may  be  found  in  the  last 
edition  of  Coxe's  Historv  of  Russian  Discoveries. 


-ni. 


1776.1 


KRIIOKS    IN    TIIK    lIM'.t.V     'U'SMAN    M  \P!H. 


139 


Dyagc 

ny  of 

ed  lo 

ig  the 

I  side 

sea  in 

\  their 

ho  had 
of  his 

entures 

ives,  on 

»c  66th 

ley  fre- 

kcral  of 

uber  of 

ider  the 

le  group, 

litzin,  in 

iched   at 

IS,  as  also 

t  Canton, 

!  by  sea.* 

iscovcries 

n  original 
SttL'hhn, 
rious  and 
)graphical 
remained 
resent,  to 
rected  by 
coast  cx- 
froni  Cali- 

written  by 
lescape  from 
lilt  they  have 
le  afterwards 
L-nded  to  be 
lat  island,  in 
Icontest  with 

^n  Asia  and 
in  the  last 


fornia,  to  the  7()th  degree  of  iutitiidr.  and  was  neparated  from  the 
opposite  const  of  Asia  by  a  wide  expanse  of  sea,  coiitnining  many 
islnrids,  several  of  which  correspond  in  name  with  those  of  the 
Aleutian  Arehipelago,  though  the  positions  assigned  to  them  are 
far  from  correct:  the  largest  of  the  islands  there  represented, 
called  Alascha,  lies  under  the  67th  parallel,  between  the  western- 
most point  of  America  and  th<>  most  eastern  of  Asia.  In  the  beau- 
tiful map  of  the  Russian  empire,  published  at  St.  Petersburg  by 
Treschot  and  Schmidt,  in  1776,  no  land,  except  some  islands,  ap- 
pears within  twenty-five  degn'es  of  longitude  east  of  Kamtchatka. 
Other  maps,  however,  which  appeared  at  a  much  earlier  period, 
offer  a  view  more  nearly  correct  of  the  extreme  north-western  coasts 
of  America,  although  the  geographer  who  constructed  them  must 
have  been  guided  almost  entirely  by  suppositions. 

The  errors  of  latitude,  in  all  these  maps,  were  very  great,  amount- 
ing to  ten  degrees,  in  some  instances  ;  and  those  of  longitude  were, 
as  may  be  readily  supposed,  nuich  more  considerable.  Indeed, 
hefore  1778,  when  Cook  made  his  voyage  through  the  North 
Pacific,  the  differences  in  longitude,  between  places  in  that  part 
of  the  ocean,  had  never  been  estimated  otherwise  than  by  the  dead 
recl:onin!j^,  which,  however  carefullv  observed,  cannot  afford  accurate 
results ;  nor  had  any  relation,  which  coidd  be  considered  as  nearly 
correct,  been  established  between  the  meridian  of  any  point  on  the 
Atlantic  and  that  of  any  point  on  the  North  Pacific. 


i- 


■  1 ' 


!  >  ■ 


I.  .'I, 


f 


M» 


J 


k 


i ' 


I 
Jlil 


140 


CHAPTER    VI. 


1763  TO  1780. 

Great  Britain  dLl.iins  Possession  of  Caniida  —  Journey  of  Carver  to  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi —  First  Mention  of  tlic  Oregon  River  —  1  naccuracy  of  Carver's  Statements 
—  Journeys  of  Hearne  througii  the  Regions  west  of  Hudson's  Bay  —  Voyage  of 
Captain  Cook  to  the  North  Pacific  —  His  important  Discoveries  in  that  Quarter, 
and  Death  —  Return  of  his  Ships  to  Europe  ;  Occurrences  at  Canton  during  their 
Stay  in  tliat  Port. 

Whilst  the  Russians  were  thus  prosecuting  the  fur  trade  on 
the  north-westernmost  coasts  of  America,  the  British  were  engaged 
in  the  same  pursuit  on  the  north-eastern  side  of  the  continent. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  King  Charles  II.  of  England, 
in  1669,  granted  to  an  association  of  gentlemen  and  merchants  of 
London  the  possession  of  all  the  territories  surrounding  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  the  exclusive  trade  in  those  regions,  with  the  object,  ex- 
pressed in  the  charter,  of  encoursiging  his  subjects  to  prosecute  tin; 
search  for  a  north-west  passage  for  ships  from  that  sea  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  Under  the  protection  of  this  charter,  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  erected  forts  and  trading  establishments  on  the  shores  of 
the  bay,  and  carried  on  an  extensive  and  profitable  trade  with  the 
natives  of  that  part  of  America,  to  the  annoyance  of  the  French, 
who,  also,  claimed  the  country  as  part  of  Canada,  and  more  than 
once  dislodged  the  British  traders.  It  was,  indeed,  provided  In 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1714,  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories 
should  belong  to  the  former  nation,  and  that  commissaries  should 
be  appointed,  on  both  sides,  to  settle  the  line  separating  those  terri- 
tories from  Canada :  but  no  such  boundary  was  ever  fixed,  by 
commissaries  or  otherwise,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter ;  *  and  the 
limits  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories  remained  undetermined  in 
1763,  when  Canada,  with  all  the  other  dominions  of  France  in 
North  America,  east  of  the  Mississippi,  were  ceded  to  Great  Britain 
by  the  treaty  of  Paris. 


t ' 


^\. 


See  chap,  xiii.,  and  Proofs  and  IHuatrations,  letter  F. 


It  i*;    mi' 


Fpper  Mis- 
statements 
Voyage  of 
at  Quarter, 
uring  their 


trade  on 
engaged 
lent. 

England, 
-chants  of 
Hudson's 
object,  ex- 
^ecute  tlu! 
le  Pacific 
son's  Tiay 
sliores  of 
w'itli  the 
French, 
norc  tlmn 
ovided  l>y 
territories 
les  shoulil 
lose  terri- 
fixed,  by 
and  the 
mined  in 
ranee  in 
at  Britain 


1766.] 


CANADA    CEDKD    TO    CHEAT    ItUlTAIN. 


141 


How  far  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  also,  endeavored  to  fulfil 
the  intention  expressed  in  the  charter,  of  promoting  the  search 
for  a  north-west  passage,  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  inquire ;  suffice 
it  to  say,  that,  at  the  end  of  a  century  from  the  date  of  the  con- 
cession, the  question,  as  to  the  existence  of  such  a  channel,  was 
nearly  in  the  same  state  as  at  the  commencement  of  that  period. 
Hudson's  Bay  had  been  navigated  by  Middleton,  in  1741,  to  the 
CGth  degree  of  latitude,  beyond  which  it  was  known  to  extend ; 
Baffin's  Bay  had  not  been  visited  since  the  beginning  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  when  it  was  examined  imperfectly  to  the  74th 
parallel.  Tlie  territories  west  of  both  these  seas  were  entirely  unex- 
plored ;  but  accounts,  which  seemed  to  merit  some  credit,  had  been 
received  from  the  Indians,  of  great  rivers  and  other  waters  in  that 
direction.  The  desired  communication  with  the  Pacific  might, 
therefore,  exist ;  or  the  Pacific,  or  some  navigable  river  falling  into 
it,  might  l)e  found  within  a  short  distance  of  places  on  the  Atlantic 
side  of  the  continent,  accessible  to  vessels  from  Europe :  and  the 
determination  of  these  questions  became  infinitely  more  important 
to  Great  Britain,  after  the  acquisition  of  Canada. 

The  region  extending  south-west,  from  Hudson's  Bay  to  the 
great  lakes,  and  the  head  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  had  long  been 
frequented  by  the  traders  from  Canada  and  Louisiana,  and  had  been 
partially  surveyed  by  French  officers  and  missionaries,  by  whom 
several  journals,  histories,  and  maps,  relating  to  those  countries, 
had  been  given  to  the  world.  This  region  was  also  visited,  imme- 
diately after  tjie  transfer  of  Canada  to  Great  Britain,  by  an  Amer- 
ican, whose  travels  arc  here  mentioned,  because  he  is  supposed  to 
have  thrown  much  light  upon  the  geography  of  North-west  America 
by  his  own  observations,  and  by  information  collected  from  the 
Indians  of  the  Upper  Mississippi. 

This  traveller.  Captain  Jonathan  Carver,  of  Connecticut,  who 
had  served  with  some  credit  in  the  war  against  the  French,  partic- 
ularly in  the  country  about  Lakes  Champlain  and  George,  set  out 
from  Boston  in  1766,  and  proceeded,  by  way  of  Detroit  and 
Michilimackinac,  to  the  regions  of  the  Upper  Mississippi,  now 
forming  the  territories  of  Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  where  he  spent 
two  years  among  the  Indians.  His  object  was,  as  he  says  in  the 
introduction  to  his  narrative,  "after  gaining  a  knowledge  of  the 
manners,  customs,  languages,  soil,  and  natural  productions,  of  the 
different  nations  that  inhabit  the  back  of  the  Mississippi,  to  ascer- 
tain the  breadth   of  the  vast  continent  which  extends   from    the 


h" 


«. 


1    1,1 1 


;i    ' 

hp: 

, 

1  1          '    ' 

1  '     ' 

:k' 


ill 


<j  i 


in 


r. 


m 


^ 


142 


TRAVELS    OP    CARVER. 


[1766. 


Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in  its  broadest  part,  between  the  43d 
and  the  46th  degrees  of  northern  latitude.  Had  I  been  able,"  he 
continues,  "  to  accomplish  this,  I  intended  to  have  proposed  to 
government  to  establish  a  post  in  some  of  those  parts,  about  the 
Strait  of  Anian,  which,  having  been  discovered  by  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  of  course  belongs  to  the  English.  This,  I  am  convinced, 
would  greatly  facilitate  the  discovery  of  a  north-west  passage,  or 
communication  between  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  Pacific  Ocean." 
This  extensive  plan  he  was,  however,  unable  to  pursue,  having 
been  disappointed  in  his  intention  to  purchase  goods,  and  then  to 
pursue  his  journey  from  the  Upper  Mississippi,  "  by  way  of  the 
Lakes  Dubois,  Dupluie,  and  Ouinipique,  [the  old  French  names  of 
Rainy  Lake,  Lake  of  the  Woods,  and  hake  Winnipeg,]  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Great  River  of  the  West,  which  falls  into  the  Strait  of 
Anian."* 

This  Great  River  of  the  West  is  several  times  mentioned  by  Carver, 
under  the  name  of  Oregon,  or  Origan.  In  another  part  of  his 
introduction,  he  refers  to  his  account,  in  the  journal,  "of  the 
situation  of  the  four  great  rivers  that  take  their  rise  within  a  few 
leagues  of  each  other,  nearly  about  the  centre  of  the  great  con- 
tinent, viz.,  the  River  Bourbon,  {Red  River  of  the  north,]  which 
empties  itself  into  Hudson's  Bay,  the  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  River  Oregon,  or  River  of  the  West,  that 
falls  into  the  Pacific  Ocean  at  the  Straits  of  Anian."  At  the  con- 
clusion of  his  work,  also,  in  speaking  of  a  project  which  had  been 
formed,  in  1774,  by  himself,  Mr.  Whitvvorth,  a  member  of  the 
British  parliament,  and  other  persons  in  London,  to  cross  the 
American  continent,  he  says  that  they  would  have  "  proceeded  up 
the  River  St.  Pierre,  [St.  Peter^s,]  and  from  thence  up  a  branch 
of  the  River  Messorie,  till,  having  discovered  the  source  of  the 
Oregon,  or  River  of  the  West,  on  the  other  side  of  the  summit  of  the 
lands  that  divide  the  waters  which  fall  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
from  those  that  fall  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  they  would  have  sailed 

*  Travels  throughout  the  interior  Parts  of  North  America,  in  ITWJ — t*,  by  Jona- 
than Carver,  London,  1778.  It  consists  of — an  introduction,  showing  what  the 
author  had  done  and  wished  to  do  —  a  journal  of  his  travels,  with  descriptions  of  the 
countries  visited,  and  —  an  account  of  the  origin,  habits,  religion,  and  languages, 
of  the  Indians  of  the  country  about  the  Upper  Missisnippi,  which  account  occupies 
two  thirds  of  the  work,  and  is  extracted  almost  entirely,  and,  in  many  parts,  verbatim, 
from  the  French  journals  and  histories.  The  book  was  written,  or  rather  made  up, 
at  London,  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Lettsom  and  other  gentlemen,  and  printed  for 
the  purpose  of  relieving  the  wants  of  the  author,  who,  however,  died  there,  in  misery, 
in  1780,  at  the  age  of  48. 


1766. 

e43d 

3,"  he 
sed  to 
Ht  the 
'rancis 
'inced, 
ige,  or 
cean." 
having 
hen  to 
of  the 
mes  of 
le  head 
trait  of 

Carver, 
t  of  his 
'of  the 
1  a  few 
sat  con- 
,]  which 
vvrence, 
est,  that 
he  con- 
lad  been 
of  the 
OSS   the 
ided  up 
branch 
of  the 
lit  of  the 
Mexico 
e  sailed 

[,  by  Jona- 
what  the 
Ions  of  the 
languages, 
It  occupies 
\,  terbtitivi, 
I  made  up, 
krinted  for 
I  in  misery, 


■'■I' 


1766.] 


OREGON,    OR    RIVER    OF    THE    WEST. 


143 


down  that  river,  to  the  place  where  it  is  said  to  empty  itself,  near 
the  Straits  of  Anian." 

From  these  declarations,  it  has  been  supposed,  by  many,  that 
Carver  was  the  first  to  make  known  to  the  vorld  the  existence  of 
the  great  stream  since  discovered,  and  nhincd  the  Columbia,  which 
drains  nearly  the  whole  region,  on  the  Pacific  side  of  America, 
between  the  40th  and  the  54th  parallels  of  latitude  ;  and  that  stream 
is,  in  consequence,  frequently  called  the  Oregon.  On  examining 
the  journal  of  the  traveller,  however,  we  find  no  further  mention 
of,  or  allusion  to,  his  river  than  is  contained  in  the  following  pas- 
sages :  "  From  these  nations,  [called  by  him  the  Naudowessies, 
the  Assinipoils,  and  the  Killistinocs,]  together  with  my  own  obser- 
vations, I  have  learned  that  the  four  most  capital  rivers  on  the 
continent  of  North  America  —  viz.,  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  Missis- 
sippi, the  River  Bourbon,  and  the  Oregon,  or  River  of  the  West,  (as 
I  hinted  in  my  introduction)  —  have  their  sources  in  the  same 
neighborhood.  The  waters  of  the  three  former  are  within  thirty 
miles  of  each  other ;  the  latter,  however,  is  rather  farther  west. 
This  shows  that  these  parts  arc  the  highest  in  North  America ;  and 
it  is  an  instance  not  to  be  paralleled  in  tho  other  three  quarters  of 
the  world,  that  four  rivers  of  such  magnitude  should  take  their  rise 
together,  and  each,  after  running  separate  courses,  discharge  their 
waters  into  different  oceans,  at  the  distance  of  two  thousand  miles 
from  their  sources ;  for,  in  their  passage  from  this  spot  to  the  Bay 
of  St.  Lawrence  east,  to  the  Bay  of  Mexico  south,  to  Hudson^s 
Bay  north,  and  to  the  bay  at  the  Straits  of  Anian  west,  each  of 
these  traverse  upwards  of  two  thousand  uiiles."  The  elevated  part, 
to  which  Carver  here  alludes,  is  no  otherwise  described  by  him  than 
as  being  near  the  Shining  Mountains,  "  which  begin  at  Mexico,  and, 
continuing  northward,  on  the  back,  or  to  the  east,  of  California, 
separate  the  waters  of  those  numerous  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  or  the  Gulf  of  California.  From  thence,  continuing 
their  course  still  northward,  between  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi 
and  the  rivers  that  run  into  the  South  Sea,  they  appear  to  end  in 
about  47  or  48  degrees  of  north  latitude,  where  a  number  of  rivers 
arise,  and  empty  themselves  either  into  the  South  Sea,  into  Hud- 
son's Bay,  or  into  the  waters  that  communicate  between  these 
two  seas." 

In  the  preceding  extracts  from  Carver's  book,  embracing  all  that 
he  has  said  respectir,g  his  Oregon,  or  Great  River  of  the  West,  there 
is  certainlv  nothing  lalculated  to  establish  the  identitv  of  the  stream, 


..  >■ 


'I.  'P 


')  V 


.J 


I 


i,|ji 


■.1l] 


m 


1  .i 


144 


MISUEPRESENTATIONS    OF    CAIIVER. 


[1766. 


ik., 


to  which  those  vague  descriptions  and  allusions  apply,  with  the 
Columbia,  or  with  any  other  river.  The  Columbia  does  not  rise 
within  a  few  leagues,  or  a  few  hundred  leagues,  of  the  waters  of 
the  Red  River,  the  St.  Lawrence,  or  the  Upper  Mississippi,  which 
latter  Carver  carefully  distinguishes  from  the  Missouri;  nor  does 
either  of  those  rivers,  flowing  to  the  Atlantic,  rise  near  the  great 
dividing  ridge  of  the  Shining  Mountains ;  which  ridge,  moreover, 
does  not  end  about  the  48th  degree  of  latitude,  but  continues  more 
than  a  thousand  miles  farther  north-westward.  If,  under  circum- 
stances so  different,  we  consider  the  head-waters  of  the  Columbia 
to  be  the  same  described  by  Carver  as  the  htad-waters  of  the 
Oregon,  we  should,  a  fortiori,  admit  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  to 
be  the  same  mouth  of  a  river  which  Aguiiar  is  said  to  have  discov- 
ered in  1603. 

Carver's  descriptions  of  places,  people,  and  things,  in  the  Indian 
countries,  are  vague,  and  often  contradictory ;  and,  where  they  can 
be  understood,  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  repetitions  of  the 
accounts  of  those  or  of  other  parts  of  America,  given  by  the  old 
French  travellers  and  historians,  whose  works  he,  ne'?'-theless,  takes 
great  pains  to  disparage,  whenever  he  mentions  them.*  In  many  of 
those  works,  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  great  river,  flowing 
from  the  vicinity  of  the  head-w.i*ers  of  the  Mississippi,  westward, 
to  the  Pacific,  is  distinctly  affirmed,  as  founded  on  the  reports  of  the 
Indians ;  and  on  nearly  all  maps  of  North  America,  published 
during  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  may  be  found  one  or  more 
of  such  streams,  under  the  names  of  River  of  the  West,  River  of 


1% 


"  In  proof  that  no  injiisticf  is  lioro  done  to  Carver's  memory,  read  his  magisterial 
and  contemptuous  remarks  on  the  works  of  Hennepin,  Lahontan,  and  Cliarlevoix,  in 
the  first  chapter  of  his  account  of  the  origin,  manners,  &c.,  of  the  Indians;  and 
tiien  com|)are  his  chapters  describing,  as  from  personal  observation,  tlic  ceremonies 
of  marriage,  burial,  hunting,  and  others,  of  the  natives  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  coun- 
tries, with  those  of  Laiiontan,  showing  the  conduct  of  the  Iroquois,  of  Canada,  on 
Biiuilar  occasions,  by  wiiieh  it  will  be  seen  that  Carver  has  sirnphj  translated  from 
Lii/ioutii.n  the  irhiile  of  the  accounts,  eren  to  the  speeches  of  the  chiefs.  Carver's  chapter 
on  the  origin  o*"  the  Indians  is  merely  an  abridgment  from  Charlevoix's  "  Disserta- 
tion "  on  the  same  subject.  His  descriptions  of  the  language,  manners,  and  customs, 
of  the  inhabit^ints  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  regions,  are  entirely  at  variance  with  those 
of  the  same  tribes  at  the  present  day,  as  clearly  shown  by  the  observations  of  Pike, 
Jjong,  and  other  [K-rsons  of  unquestionable  chaiacter,  who  have  since  visited  that  part 
of  America.  Keating,  in  his  interesting  narrative  of  Long's  expedition  in  1823, 
expres.seshis  belief  liiat  Carver  "ascended  the  Mississippi  to  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
that  he  saw  the  St.  Peter,  and  that  he  may  liave  entered  it ;  but,  liad  he  resided  five 
months  in  the  country,  and  become  acquainted  with  the  language  of  the  people,  he 
would  not  have  applied  to  them  the  name  of  .Xaudowessies,  and  omitted  to  call  them 
the  Dacota  Indians,  as  they  style  themselves.'" 


West; 
story. 
The 
of  Ameri 
made,  in 
Hudson' 
(nation  i 

*  The  ac( 

Abi.,.  le  .\Ft- 


I     II' 


1770.] 


MONCACHTABK  S    ACCOUNT    OF    A    GREAT    RIVER. 


145 


Aguilar,  River  Thegoyo,  or  some  other,  represented  on  the  author- 
ity of  accounts  received  from  Indians,  or  of  erroneous  or  fabulous 
narratives  of  voyages  along  the  North  Pacific  coasts.  When  we 
consider  the  many  and  glaring  plagiarisms,  from  the  works  above 
mentioned,  committed  by  Carver,  we  certainly  have  a  right  to  sus- 
pect, if  not  to  conclude,  that  he  derived  from  the  same  source 
every  thing  relating  to  his  River  of  the  West,  which  he  pretends  to 
have  collected  from  the  Indians  of  the  Upper  Mississippi.  As  to 
the  name  Oregon,  or  the  authority  for  its  use,  the  traveller  is  silent ; 
and  nothing  has  been  learned  from  any  other  source,  though  much 
labor  has  been  expended  in  attempts  to  discover  its  meaning  and 
derivation  :  it  was,  most  probably,  invented  by  Carver. 

The  most  distinct  and  apparently  authentic  of  these  Indian 
accounts  of  great  rivers  flowing  from  the  central  parts  of  North 
America  to  the  Pacific,  is  that  recorded  by  the  French  traveller 
Lepage  Dupratz,  as  received  from  a  native  of  the  Yazoo  country, 
named  Moncachtabe.  The  amount  of  this  statement  is  —  that  the 
Indian  ascended  the  Missouri  north-westward,  to  its  source,  beyond 
which  he  found  another  great  river,  nmning  towards  the  setting 
sun ;  this  latter  he  descended  to  a  considerable  distance,  though 
not  to  its  termination,  which  he  was  prevented  from  reaching  by 
wars  among  the  tribes  inhabiting  the  country  on  its  banks  ;  though 
he  learned,  from  a  woman  who  had  been  made  prisoner  by  the  tribe 
with  which  he  took  part,  that  the  riv  r  entered  a  great  water,  where 
ships  had  been  seen,  navigated  by  white  men  with  beards.  All  this 
is  related,  with  many  accompanying  circumstances,  tending  to 
confirm  the  probabihly  of  the  narrative ;  and  there  is,  indeed, 
nothing  about  it  which  should  induce  us  to  reject  it  as  false,  except 
the  part  respecting  the  ships  and  white  men,  which  may  have  been 
an  embellishment  added  by  Moncachtabt'.*  The  course  of  this 
supposed  stream  is  laid  down  on  several  maps  of  North  America, 
published  about  1750,  in  which  it  is  called  the  Great  River  of  the 
West ;  and  one  of  these  maps  probably  formed  tlie  basis  of  Carver's 
story. 

The  first  actual  discovery  of  a  river  in  the  northernmost  section 
of  America,  not  emptying  into  the  Atlantic  or  Hudson's  Bay,  was 
made,  in  1771,  by  Mr.  Samuel  Hearne,  one  of  the  agents  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  who  also  obtained  the  earliest  exact  infor- 
mation respecting  the  regions  west  and   north-west  of  that  bay. 

*  Thp  account  may  be  found  at  length  in  the  Mimoires  sur  la  Louisiane^  by  the 

Ahii-  le  Ml  -crier,  published  at  Paris  in  1753,  vol.  ii.  p.  '^46. 

H) 


(11 


i 


li 


I    i: 


A  :;■    :    ! 


V'; 


ill 


:i-ii 


^  i 


I  .  '.'i-  ■■■■ 


0 


'li^' 


M 


146 


HEARNE  S    TRAVELS. 


[1771, 


Hearne  had  been  commissioned,  by  the  directors  of  the  company,  to 
explore  those  regions,  in  order  to  determine,  if  possible,  the  question 
as  to  the  existence  of  a  northern  passage  between  Hudson's  Bay  and 
the  Pacific ;  and  also,  more  especially,  to  find  a  rich  mine  of  copper, 
which  was  believed,  from  the  accounts  of  the  Indians,  to  lie  on  the 
banks  of  a  river  or  strait,  called,  in  their  language,  "  the  Far-off 
Metal  River."  From  the  general  tenor  of  the  instructions  given 
to  Hearne,  it  is  evident  that  the  directors  were  convinced  of  the 
non-existence  of  such  a  passage,  and  that  they  were  merely  anxious 
to  have  the  fact  demonstrated,  in  order  to  clear  themselves  from  the 
imputation  often  cast  upon  them,  of  endeavoring  Ao  obstruct  the 
progress  of  discovery  in  the  regions  under  their  control. 

Agreeably  to  these  instructions,  Hearne  made,  between  1769  and 
1772,  three  journeys  from  Fort  Prince  of  Wales,  the  company's 
chief  establishment  on  the  western  shore  of  Hudson's  Bay,  near 
the  60th  degree  of  latitude,  through  the  regions  west  and  north- 
west of  that  place,  which  he  examined,  in  various  directions,  to  the 
distance  of  about  a  thousand  miles.  In  his  last  journey,  he  dis- 
covered the  Great  Slave  Lake,  and  other  similar  collections  of  fresh 
water,  from  which  issued  streams  flowing  northward  and  westward ; 
and  he  traced  one  of  these  streams,  which  proved  to  be  the  Far-off 
Metal  River,  since  called  the  Cqpper  Mine  River,  to  its  termination 
in  a  sea,  where  the  tides  were  observed,  and  the  relics  of  whales 
were  strowed  in  abundance  on  the  shores.  The  mouth  of  this  river 
was  calculated  rudely  by  Hearne  to  be  situated  near  the  72d  degree 
of  latitude,  and  al)ovit  20  degrees  of  longitude,  west  of  the  most 
western  known  part  of  Hudson's  Bay ;  and  he  learned  from  the 
Indians  that  the  continent  extended  much  farther  west,  and  that 
there  were  high  mountains  in  that  direction.  The  sea  into  which 
the  Copper  Mine  River  emptied  was  supposed  by  the  traveller  to  be 
"a  sort  of  inland  sea,  or  extensive  bay,  somewhat  like  that  of 
Hudson;"  and  he  assured  himself,  by  his  own  observations,  that 
the  territory  traversed  by  him,  between  this  sea  and  Hudson's  Bay, 
was  not  crossed  by  any  channel  connecting  the  two  waters :  whence 
it  followed,  that  no  vessel  could  sail  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
north  of  America,  without  proceeding  beyond  the  mouth  of  the 
Copper  Mine  River.  Hearne  also  conceived  that  he  had  proved 
the  entire  impossibility  of  the  existence  of  any  direct  communication 
between  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  Pacific ;  in  which  he,  undoubtedly, 
assumed  too  much,  as  the  northern  termination  of  that  bay  had  not 
then,  nor  has  it  to  this  day,  been  discovered. 


So( 
return 
ill  wli 
of  a  h 
duct 
accej)t 
placed 
In  t 
he  is  d 
Zealan 
to  end 
'•  strict 
of  the 
unless 
he  was 
to  be  v( 
inhabita 


f1 


1776.] 


INSTRUCTIONS    TO    COOK. 


147 


Hearne's  journals  were  not  published  until  1795,  though  they 
were  submitted,  immediately  after  his  return  from  his  last  journey, 
to  the  lords  commissioners  of  the  British  Admiralty,  who  did  not 
fail  to  perceive  the  importance  of  the  information  contained  in 
them.  The  commissioners  agreed  with  Hearne  in  considering  the 
probability  of  reaching  the  Pacific  through  Hudson's  Bay  to  be 
destroyed  ;  but  they  were,  on  the  other  hand,  induced  to  hope  that 
the  newly-discovered  sea,  north  of  America,  might  be  found  to 
communicate,  by  navigable  passages,  with  Baffin's  Bay  on  the  east 
and  the  Pacific  on  the  west :  and  it  was,  in  consequence,  resolved, 
that  ships  should  be  sent,  simultaneously,  to  explore  the  western 
side  of  Baffin's  Bay  and  the  north-easternmost  coasts  of  the  Pacific, 
in  search  of  the  desired  channels  of  connection  with  the  Arctic 
Sea.  By  an  act  of  parliament,  passed  in  1745,  a  reward  of  twenty 
tliousand  pounds  had  been  oflfered  for  the  discovery  of  a  north-west 
passage,  through  Hudsoti's  Bay,  by  ships  belonging  to  his  majesty^s 
iubjccts;  and,  in  order  further  to  stimulate  British  navigators  in 
their  exertions,  a  new  act,  in  1776,  held  out  the  same  reward  to  the 
owners  of  any  ship  belonging  to  his  majesty's  subjects,  or  to  the 
connnander,  officers,  and  crew,  of  any  vessel  belonging  to  his 
iiiiijesty,  which  should  find  out,  and  sail  through,  any  passage  by  sea 
bL'twcen  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  Oceans,  in  any  direction,  or 
parallel  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  to  the  northward  of  the  52d 
degree  of  latitude. 

Soon  after  the  adoption  of  these  resolutions.  Captain  James  Cook 
returned  to  England  from  his  second  voyage  of  circumnavigation, 
in  which  he  had  completely  disproved  all  reports  of  the  existence 
of  a  habitable  continent  about  the  south  pole  ;  and,  his  oflTer  to  con- 
duct the  proj)osed  expedition  to  the  North  Pacific  having  been 
accepted  by  the  government,  two  vessels  were  soon  prepared  and 
placed  under  his  connnand  for  that  purpose. 

In  the  instructions  delivered  to  Cook,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1776, 
he  is  directed  to  proceed,  by  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  New 
Zealand,  and  Otaheite,  to  the  coast  of  JVetv  Albion,  which  he  was 
to  endeavor  to  reach,  in  the  latitude  of  45  degrees.  He  was 
"  strictly  enjoined,  on  his  way  thither,  not  to  touch  upon  any  part 
of  the  Spanish  dominions  on  the  western  continent  of  America, 
unless  driven  to  it  by  some  unavoidable  accident ;  in  which  case, 
he  was  to  stay  no  longer  than  should  be  absolutely  necessary,  and 
to  be  very  careful  not  to  give  any  umbrage  or  offence  to  any  of  the 
inhabitants  or  subjects  of  his  Catholic  majesty.     And  if,  in  his 


'I 


w 


■d\'  \>f'. 


4',\ 


I 


V;'> 


'i\' 


'i:l 


lU 


J'      ! 


148 


I.NSTKUCTIONS    TO    COOK. 


[1776. 


farther  progress  northward,  he  should  find  uny  subjects  of  any 
European  prince  or  state,  upon  any  part  of  the  coast  which  he 
might  think  proper  to  visit,  he  was  not  to  disturb  them,- or  give 
them  any  just  cause  of  offence,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  treat  them 
with  civility  and  friendship."  This  latter  sentence  bore  reference 
to  the  Russians  ;  the  application  of  the  name  of  New  Albion  to  the 
north-west  coast  of  North  America  showed  that  the  British  govern- 
ment had  no  intention  to  resign  any  rights  to  that  region,  which 
were  supposed,  or  pretended,  to  have  been  acquired  by  Drake's 
visit,  in  1579. 

On  reaching  New  Albion,  Cook  was  "  to  put  into  the  first  con- 
venient port  to  obtain  wood,  water,  and  refreshments,  and  thence 
to  proceed  northward  along  the  coast  to  the  latitude  of  65  degrees," 
where  he  was  to  begin  his  seareii  for  '•  such  rivers  or  inlets  as  might 
appear  to  be  of  considerable  extent,  and  jxjiiiling  towards  Hudson's 
or  Baflin's  Bays."  Should  he  find  a  passage  of  that  description, 
lie  was  to  endeavor  to  sail  throiigli  it.  with  one  or  both  of  his  ships. 
or  with  smaller  vessels,  of  which  the  materials  were  to  be  carried 
out,  prepared  for  being  speedily  |)nt  together ;  should  he,  however, 
be  satisfied  that  there  is  no  such  passage  to  the  above-mentioned 
bays,  suflicient  for  the  purposes  of  navigation,  he  was  to  n'pair  to 
the  Russian  establishments  in  Kamtchatka,  and  to  explore  the  seas 
north  of  them,  "  in  fiirther  search  of  a  north-east  or  north-west 
passage,  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  into  the  Atliintic  or  the  North 
Sea."  The  instruction,  not  to  begin  the  examination  of  the  Amer- 
ican coast  south  of  the  65th  degree  of  latitude,  was  bas(>d  on  the 
proofs  obtained  by  Ilearne,  that  the  continent  extended  nnich 
beyond  that  parallel ;  before  reaching  whieli,  indeed,  it  was  expected 
that  the  coast  woidd  be  found  turning  north-eastward,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  mouth  of  the  Copper  Mine  River. 

The  navigator  was,  likewise,  "  with  the  consent  of  the  natives, 
to  take  possession,  in  the  name  of  tht;  king  of  Great  Britain,  of 
convenient  situations  in  such  countries  as  he  might  discover,  that 
had  not  been  already  discovered  or  visited  by  any  other  European 
power ;  and  to  distribute,  among  the  inhabitants,  sJich  things  as  will 
remain  as  traces  of  his  having  been  there :  but,  if  he  should  find 
the  countries  so  discovered  to  be  nninhahited.  he  was  to  take  pos- 
session of  them  for  his  sovereign,  by  setting  up  proper  marks  and 
inscriptions,  as  first  discoverers  and  possessors." 

The  preceding  extracts,  from  the  instructions  given  to  Cook,  will 
suffice  to  explain  the  objects  and  views  of  the  British  government, 


-til 


1176. 

f  any 
ch  he 
r  givo 

them 
nroiice 
to  the 
overn- 

wliich 
brake's 

rst  con- 
thence 

•grers," 

IS  might 

[udsoti's 

priptioiK 

lis  sliips. 

!  carried 

jovvevor, 

entioiiecl 

rrpair  to 
the  si-as 
irth-vvest 
North 

le  Amer- 

on  the 

d    much 

expected 

he  direc- 

natives. 
ritain,  of 
>ver,  that 
"iMiropean 
Igs  as  will 
Mdd  find 
Itake  pos- 
lurks  and 

^ook,  will 
irernment, 


1776.] 


COOK    SAILS    Foil    TUB    PACIFIC. 


149 


with  regard  to  the  part  of  America  hordering  upon  the  North  Pacific 
Ocean  ;  which  objects  and  views  were,  in  every  respect,  confoim- 
ahl((  wilh  justice,  with  the  existing  treaties  between  Great  Britain 
and  other  powers,  and  with  the  ])rinciples  of  national  law  then 
generally  admitted  in  civilized  countries.  The  part  of  America  in 
question  was  known  to  Europeans  only  through  the  imperfect 
accounts  of  the  Russian  voyages,  from  which  nothing  certaii*  was 
learned,  exeei)t  that  islands  and  other  territories,  supposed  to  be 
extensive,  had  been  found  in  the  sea  east  of  Kamtchatka.  Of  the 
discoveries  of  the  Spaniards,  the  most  recent  respecting  which  any 
exact  and  authentic  details  had  been  connnunicated,  were  those 
made  by  Vizcaino,  in  KiO.'J:  he,  how(;ver,  had  not  advanced  so  far 
north  as  the  45th  degree  of  latitude,  w  here  Cook  was  to  begin  his 
observations;  and  between  that  parall(;l  ami  the  .'jGth,  the  southern- 
most limit  r>f  the  «,'Xploratioiis  of  the  Russians,  was  a  vast  space  of 
sea  and  land,  concerning  which  all  the  accounts,  pn^viously  given 
to  the  world,  were  generally  regarded  as  fabulous.  Before  Cook's 
departure,  information  had  indeed  reached  England,  of  voyages, 
niade  by  Spaniards,  along  the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  during 
the  two  preceding  years,*  and  of  colonies  established  by  them  in 
that  (juarter,  which  may,  perhaps,  have  rendered  the  British 
government  more  solicitous  to  have  those  coasts  examined  by  its 
own  officers:  this  information  was,  however,  too  vague  to  have 
allorded  any  light  for  the  direction  of  Cook's  movements;  and  it 
has  been  alrea<ly  shown  that  no  more  satisfactory  accounts  of  those 
recent  Spanish  voyages  had  been  obtained  in  Knghuul  before  1780. 
With  these  instructions,  Cook  sailed  frotn  Plvniouth  on  the  l-2th 
of  July,  1776,  in  his  old  ship,  the  Resolution,  accom|)anied  by 
another  called  the  Discovery,  under  Captain  Charles  Clt.'ke.  Both 
vessels  were  provided  with  every  instrument  and  other  means 
which  science  or  experience  could  suggest,  for  the  ellectual  ac- 
complishment of  the  great  objects  in  view  ;  an<l  that  tlie  olficers 
and  crews  were  also  judiciously  selected,  the  results  conclusively 
proved.  Among  the  lieutenants  were  Gore,  (a  native  of  Virginia.) 
:».ing.  Bligh,  and  Burney,  who  afterwards  rose  to  eminence  in  their 
profession  :  of  the  inferior  members  of  tiie  body,  one  deserves  to 
be  named  —  John  Ledyard,  of  Connecticut,  who  thus  passed  four 
years  of  his  irregular  and  adventurous  life  in  the  humble  capacity 
of  a  corporal  of  marines,  on  board  the  Resolution. 

*  See  page  124  of  this  History. 


' 


mi 


' ; 


■III 


111 


■<  Mi 


m 


',   Li' 


I- 


150 


COOK    REACHES    THK    AMERICAN    COAST. 


[1773. 


From  England,  Cook  passed  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
and  through  the  Southern  Ocean,  into  the  Pacific ;  and,  after 
spending  more  than  a  year  in  examinations  about  Van  Dieman's 
Land,  New  Zealand,  the  Friendly  Islands,  the  Society  Islands,  and 
other  places  in  the  same  division  of  the  great  sea,  he  bent  his  course 
towards  the  north,  in  the  beginning  of  1778.  The  first  fruit  of 
his  researches  in  the  North  Pacific,  was  the  discovery,  on  the  18th 
of  January,  of  Atooi,  (or  Kauai,)  one  of  the  islands  of  a  group 
near  the  iiOth  degree  of  latitude,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
Sandwich  Islands,  in  honor  of  the  first  lord  of  the  Admiralty.  This 
discovery  was  by  no  means  the  least  important  of  the  many  efTccted 
by  the  great  navigator ;  as  those  islands,  situated  nearly  midway 
between  America  and  Asia,  possessing  a  delightful  climate,  and  a 
fertile  soil,  ofter  invaluable  facilities  for  the  repair  and  refreshment 
of  vessels  traversing  the  vast  expanse  of  sea  which  there  separates 
the  two  continents,  and  will,  no  doubt,  be  made  the  basis  for  the 
exertion  of  a  powerful  influence  on  the  destinies  of  North-west 
America. 

From  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  British  ex|)loring  ships  took  their 
departure  for  the  north-west  coast  of  Ameri(  a,  in  sight  of  which 
they  arrived  on  the  7th  of  March,  1778,  near  the  44th  degree  of 
latitude,  about  two  hundred  miles  north  of  Cape  Mendocino.  For 
several  days  afterwards,  Cook  was  prevented  from  advancing  north- 
ward by  contrary  winds,  which  forced  him  a  hundred  miles  in 
the  op|)osite  course ;  but  he  was  thereby  enabled  to  see  and  |)ar- 
tially  examine  a  larger  extent  of  coast,  and  to  determine  the  longi- 
tude of  that  j)art  of  America,  which  had  been  left  uncertain  by  all 
previous  observations.  The  weitiu  r  at  length  permitting,  he  took 
t.  e  desired  direction,  and,  running  rapidly  northward,  at  some  dis- 
tance from  the  land,  he  was,  on  the  'i'2d  of  the  month,  opposite  a 
projecting  point  of  the  continent,  a  little  beyond  the  48th  parallel, 
to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Cape  Flattery,  in  token  of  the 
improvement  in  his  prospects. 

The  coast  south  of  Cape  Flattery,  to  tht?  47th  degree,  was  care- 
fully examined  by  the  English  in  search  of  the  strait  through  which 
Juan  de  Fuca  was  said  to  have  sailed  to  the  Atlantic  in  l.'59-2 ;  and 
as,  in  the  account  of  that  voyage,  the  entrance  of  the  strait  into  the 
Pacific  is  placed  between  the  Alth  and  the  4Sth  parallels,  over  whicii 
space  the  American  coast  was  found  to  extend  unbroken,  Cook 
did  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  that  no  such  passage  existed.  Had 
he,  however,  also  traced  the  coast  north  and  east  of  Cape  Flattery, 


si*,  J 


;f 


;ma 

Hope, 
,  after 
enian's 
[Is,  and 
course 
ruit  of 
lie  1 8th 
I  ^'roup 
anie  of 
.     This 
effected 
midway 
D,  and  a 
csliinent 
separates 
i  for  the 
arth-vvest 

ook  thcnr 
of  which 
Irgree  of 
iiio.     For 
ng  north- 
miles    in 
and  par- 
ihe  longi- 
11.1  by  all 
,  he  took 
some  dis- 
pposite  a 
parallel, 
n  of  the 

Lvas  care- 
Ijrli  which 
h9-2;  and 
It  into  the 
VQX  which 
len,  Cook 
\i\.  Had 
Flattery, 


1778.] 


COOK  AT  ANCHOR  IN  NOOTKA  SOCND. 


151 


he  would  have  discovered  an  arm  of  the  ocean,  seeming  to  pene- 
trate the  continent,  through  which  he  might  have  sailed  many  days, 
ere  he  could  have  been  convinced  that  the  old  Greek  pilot's  account 
was  not  true  in  all  its  most  essential  particulars.  This  arm  of  the 
ocean  was  passed  unobserved  by  the  navigators,  who,  sailing  north- 
westward, in  front  of  its  entrance,  doubled  a  projection  of  the  land, 
named,  by  them,  Point  Breakers,  from  the  violence  of  the  sun' 
beating  on  it,  and  found  immediately  beyond  a  spacious  bay,  open- 
ing to  the  Pacific,  in  the  latitude  of  49*  degrees.  Into  this  bay 
they  sailed,  and  anchored  on  its  northern  side,  at  the  distance  of 
ten  miles  from  the  sea,  in  a  safe  and  commodious  harbor,  to  which 
they  gave  the  name  of  Friendly  Cove. 

The  British  vessels  remained  at  Friendly  Cove  nearly  all  the 
month  of  April,  in  the  course  of  which  they  were  completely 
refitted,  and  supplied  with  wood  and  water,  and  the  men  were 
refreshed,  in  preparation  for  the  arduous  labors  of  the  ensuing 
summer.  During  this  period,  they  were  surrounded  by  crowds  of 
natives,  who  came  thither  from  all  quarters,  by  sea  and  by  land,  to 
visit  and  trade  with  the  strangers,  "  bringing,"  says  Cook,  "  skins  of 
various  animals,  such  as  wolves,  foxes,  bears,  deer,  raccoons,  pole- 
cats, martins,  and,  in  particular,  of  the  sea  otters,  which  are  found 
ut  the  islands  east  of  Kamtchatka.  Besides  the  skii.s  in  their  native 
shape,  they  also  brought  garments  made  of  the  bark  of  a  tree,  or 
soinc!  plant  like  hemp ;  weapons,  such  as  bows  and  arrows,  and 
spears ;  fish-hooks,  and  instruments  of  various  kinds ;  wooden 
visors  of  many  monstrous  figures ;  a  sort  of  woollen  stutt'  or  blan- 
keting ;  bags  filled  with  red  ochre ;  pieces  of  carved  work,  beads, 
and  several  other  little  ornaments  of  thin  brass  and  iron,  shaped 
like  a  horse-shoe,  which  tiiey  hang  at  their  noses,  and  several 
chisels,  or  pieces  of  iron  fixed  to  handles." 

•  In  trafficking  with  us,"  continues  the  navigator,  "  some  of  them 
would  betray  a  knavish  disposition,  and  carry  off  our  goods  with- 
out making  any  return ;  but,  in  general,  it  was  otherwise,  and  we 
had  abundant  reason  to  commend  the  fairness  of  their  conduct. 
However,  their  eagerness  to  possess  iron  and  brass,  and,  indeed, 
any  kind  c*"  metal,  was  so  great,  that  few  of  them  could  resist 
the  temptation  to  steal  it,  whenever  an  o])portunity  offere.1.  They 
were  thieves  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word ;  for  they  pilfered 
nothing  from  us  but  what  they  knew  could  be  converted  to  the 
purposes  of  private  utility,  and  had  a  real  value,  according  to  their 
estimation  of  things."     Cook  also  observed  among  them  a  ''  strict 


I  ?  11 

■f 


I    '''m^l 


(*'■ 


-I 


}\y 


y  M 


153 


COOK  S    .\«'t  Ol'NT    OK    TMK    NOOTKANS. 


[1778. 


h 


'W 


llrii  ■iii 


notion  of  llieir  having  a  ri^lit  to  the  exclusive  property  of  every 
thing  that  their  country  produces,"  which  had  been  roniurked,  by 
RfHlega  and  Maurelle,  in  the  natives  at  Port  Reniedios,  further 
north.  "  At  first,  they  wanted  our  people  to  pay  for  the  wood  and 
water  that  th(7  carried  on  board ;  and,  had  I  been  upon  the  Hpot 
when  these  demands  W(.>re  made,  I  should  certainly  have  complied 
with  them.  Our  workmen,  in  my  absence,  thou<j[ht  ditVercntly,  for 
they  took  but  little  noticn;  of  such  claims ;  and  the  natives,  when 
they  found  that  we  determined  to  pay  nothing',  ceased  to  apply. 
But  they  made  a  merit  of  necessity,  and  frequently  afterward  took 
occasion  to  remind  us  that  they  hud  given  us  wood  and  water  out 
of  friendship." 

With  regard  to  the  disposition  of  these  people,  the  English  com- 
mander was,  on  the  whole,  inclined  to  judge  favorably.  "  They 
seem,"  he  says,  "  to  be  courteous,  docile,  and  good  nalured,  but, 
notwithstanding  the  predominant  phlegm  of  their  tempers,  ijuick  in 
resenting  what  they  look  upon  as  un  injury,  and,  like  most  other 
passionate  people,  as  soon  forgetting  it."  Experience  has,  how- 
ever, proved  that  Ledyard  read  their  characters  more  correctly, 
when  he  pronounced  them  "bold,  ferocious,  sly,  and  reserved; 
not  easily  moved  to  anger,  but  revengeful  in  tlu;  extreme." 

From  the  number  of  articles  of  iron  and  brass  found  among  these 
people,  one  of  whom  had,  moreover,  two  silver  spoons,  of  Spanish 
manufacture,  hanging  around  his  neck  by  way  of  ornament  —  from 
their  manifesting  no  surprise  at  the  sight  of  his  siiips,  and  not  being 
startled  by  the  reports  of  his  guns  —  and  from  the  strong  inclination 
to  trade  exhibited  by  them,  —  Cook  was,  at  first,  inclined  to  suppose 
that  the  place  had  been  visited  by  vessels  of  civilized  nations  before 
his  arrival.  He,  however,  became  convinced,  by  his  inquiries  and 
observations  during  his  stay,  that  this  was  by  no  means  probable ; 
for  though,  as  he  says,  "some  account  of  a  Spanish  voyage  to  this 
coast  in  1774  or  1775  had  reached  England  before  I  sailed,  it  was 
evident  that  iron  was  too  common  here,  was  in  too  many  hands, 
and  the  use  of  it  was  too  well  known,  for  them  to  have  had  the  first 
knowledge  of  it  so  very  lately,  or,  indeed,  at  any  earlier  period,  by 
an  accidental  supply  from  a  ship.  Doubtless,  from  the  general  use 
they  make  of  this  metal,  it  may  be  supposed  to  come  from  some 
constant  source,  by  way  of  traffic,  and  that  not  of  a  very  late  date ; 
for  they  are  as  dexterous  in  using  their  tools  as  the  longest  practice 
can  make  tliem.  The  most  probable  way,  therefore,  by  which  we 
cxiw  suppose  that  they  get  their  iron,  is  by  trading  for  it  with  other 


IM 


nie. 

every 
I'd,  by 
urlher 
(I  and 
c  spot 
inplictl 
lly,  for 
I,  when 

apply- 

•d  took 
iter  out 

sli  coin- 
"  They 
red,  but, 
(luick  in 
►St  other 
as,  how- 
:orrectly, 
reserved ; 
ne." 

)ng  these 
Spanish 
t  —  from 
tiot  being 
jchnation 
)  suppose 
ns  before 
liries  and 
probable ; 
e  to  this 
;d,  it  was 
iiy  hands, 
the  first 
»eriod,  by 
neral  use 
•om  some 
late  date ; 
it  practice 
Iwhich  vve 
ith  other 


1778.] 


COOK    BAILS    FROM    NOOTKA. 


153 


I 


Indian  tribes,  who  cither  have  immediate  communication  with 
European  settlements  upon  the  continent,  or  receive  it,  perhaps, 
through  several  intermediate  nations :  the  same  might  be  said  of 
the  brass  and  copper  found  amongst  them."  The  iron  and  brass, 
he  conceived,  might  have  been  brought  from  Canada,  or  Hudson's 
Bay,  and  the  silver  spoons  from  Mexico ;  and  he  imputed  the  indif- 
ference of  the  natives,  respecting  the  ships,  <<  to  their  natural  indo- 
lence of  temper  and  want  of  curiosity." 

On  his  arrival  in  this  bay.  Cook  "  honored  it  with  the  name  of 
King  George's  Sound ;  "  but  he  "  afterwards  found  that  it  was  called 
Nootka,  by  the  natives,"  and  it  has,  accordingly,  ever  since  been 
known  as  Nootka  Sound.  No  word  has,  however,  been  since  found 
in  the  language  of  the  people  of  this  country  more  nearly  resembling 
Nootka  than  Yuquatl,  the  name  applied  by  them  to  Friendly  Cove. 
The  bay  is  situated  on  the  south-west  Mo  of  the  large  Island  of 
Vancouver  and  Q^uadra,  which  was,  until  1790,  supposed  to  be  a 
part  of  the  American  continent;  and  it  communicates  with  the 
Pacific  by  two  openings,  the  southernmost  of  which,  the  only  one 
afibrding  a  passage  for  large  vessels,  lies  under  the  parallel  of  49 
degrees  33  minutes.  This  southern  entrance  is,  undoubtedly,  the 
Port  San  Lorenzo,  in  which  the  Spanish  navigator  Perez  lay 
with  his  ship,  the  Santiago,  on  the  10th  of  August,  1774  ;  and  from 
that  vessel,  most  probably,  were  stolen  the  two  silver  spoons  of 
Spanish  manufacture,  which  Cook  saw  at  Nootka,  in  the  possession 
of  one  of  the  natives.  The  place  possesses  many  advantages,  which 
will  render  it  important,  whenever  that  part  of  America  shall  be 
occupied,  as  it  certainly  will  be,  by  an  enterprising  and  industrious 
people. 

It  was  Cook's  intention,  on  leaving  Nootka  Sound,  to  proceed, 
as  speedily  as  possible,  to  the  part  of  the  coast  under  the  65th 
degree  of  latitude,  from  which  he  was  to  commence  his  search  for 
a  passage  to  the  Atlantic.  The  violence  of  the  wind  prevented 
him  from  approaching  the  land  for  some  days,  and  he  thus,  to  his 
regret,  left  unseen  the  place,  near  the  53d  parallel,  "  where  geog- 
raphers had  placed  the  pretended  Strait  of  Fonte.  For  my  own 
part,"  he  continues,  "  I  gave  no  credit  to  such  vague  and  improb- 
able stories,  that  carry  their  own  confutation  along  with  them ; 
nevertheless,  I  was  very  desirous  of  keeping  the  American  coast 
aboard,  in  order  to  clear  up  this  point  beyond  dispute."  At  length, 
on  the  1st  of  May,  he  saw  the  land,  about  the  .'i5th  parallel ;  and, 
on  the  following  day,  he  passed  near  the  beautiful  conical  mountain, 
•20 


■'  I 


>■. 


5'. 


i';i| 


.,  •: 


■W 


Mi 

\.\  ■  <    ''':' ' 

■.rj  1  y 

il  •    '     '  '  ■ 

'  i-     ''■           1 

Uj  i 

■  }'■ 

1    ;,  .  ■ 

'  '!'       1 

!■  ''    ■■  ' 

uBi' 

''''    .  ■■           ' 

■    '    •             ! 

;  :  ;     i 

i 

J 

' 

154 


COOK   BEGINS    HIS    SURVEY   OF    THE    COAST. 


[1778. 


under  the  57th,  which  had  received  from  Bodega,  in  1775,  the  name 
of  Mount  San  Jacinto.  This  peak  was  called  Mount  Edgecumb  by 
Cook,  who  also  gave  the  appellation  oi  Bay  of  Islands  to  the  Port 
Remedios  of  the  Spaniards,  on  its  northern  side. 

After  leaving  these  places,  the  English  observed  a  wide  opening 
on  the  east,  called  by  them  Cross  Sound,  and  beyond  it  a  very  high 
mountain,  which  obtained  the  name  of  Mount  Fairweather ;  and,  as 
the  latter  was  situated  near  the  59th  parallel,  they  had  then  advanced 
farther  north  than  the  Spaniards,  or  any  other  navigators,  had 
proceeded  from  the  south  along  that  coast,  and  were  entering  upon 
the  scenes  of  the  labors  of  the  Russians.  Accordingly,  as  they  ex- 
pected, on  the  4th  of  the  month,  they  beheld,  rising  from  the  shore 
in  the  north,  at  the  distance  of  forty  leagues,  a  stupendous  pile  of 
rocks  and  snow,  which  they  immediately  recognized  as  the  Mount 
St.  Elias,  described  in  the  accounts  of  Bering's  voyage ;  and,  as 
the  coast  from  its  base  was  found  to  "  trend  very  much  to  the  west, 
inclining  hardly  any  thing  to  the  north,"  Cook  determined  to  com- 
mence his  survey  at  that  point,  hoping  soon  to  discover  some  strait, 
or  arm  of  the  ocean,  through  which  he  might  pass  around  the  north- 
western extremity  of  America,  into  the  sea  bathi  ig  the  northern 
shores  of  the  continent.  Of  the  existence  of  such  a  passage  he 
was  assured  by  the  Russian  geographers,  on  whose  maps  the  whole 
space  between  Mount  St.  Elias  and  Kamtchatka  was  represented 
as  occupied  by  a  collection  of  islands  and  channels. 

With  this  expc'jtation,  the  English  advanced  slowly  along  the 
coast,  from  the  foot  of  Mount  St.  Elias,  westward,  to  a  considerable 
distance,  and  then  south-westward,  as  far  as  the  latitude  of  54^ 
degrees ;  minutely  examinin7,  in  their  way,  every  sinuosity  on  the 
shores  of  the  ocean,  and  particularly  those  of  the  two  great  gulfs, 
named  by  them  Prince  William's  Sound  and  Coo¥s  River,  which 
stretch  northwardly  into  the  land  from  the  60th  parallel.  They 
were,  however,  in  each  instance,  disappointed ;  for  the  coast  was 
found  to  extend  continuously  on  their  right,  bordered  every  where 
by  lofty,  snow-capped  chains  of  mountains  along  the  whole  line  thus 
surveyed :  and,  as  Cook  became  convinced  that  these  territories 
formed  part  of  the  American  continent,  which  thus  "extended 
farther  to  the  west  than,  from  the  modern  most  reputable  charts,  he 
had  reason  to  expect,"  he  saw,  with  regret,  that  the  probability  of 
his  finding  a  passage  eastward  into  Baffin's  or  Hudson's  Bays  was 
materially  diminished,  if  not  entirely  destroyed.  He  endeavored,  in 
his  course,  to  identify  the  place3  described  in  the  narrative  of 


f    •I 


m 


[1778. 

e  name 
imb  by 
he  Port 

opening 
jry  high 

and,  as 
dvanced 
0X3,  had 
ing  upon 
they  ex- 
ihe  shore 
IS  pile  of 
he  Mount 
;  and,  as 

the  west, 
i  to  com- 
)me  strait, 
the  north- 
!  northern 
)assage  he 

the  whole 
epresented 

along  the 
>nsiderable 
ide  of  54J 


1778.] 


COOK    REACHES    UNALASHKA. 


155 


Bering's  voyage;  but  this  he  found,  almost  always,  impossible, 
though  he  assigned  many  of  the  names  therein  mentioned  to  spots 
which  seemed  to  correspond,  in  some  respects,  with  those  so  called 
by  the  Russians. 

Whilst  this  survey  was  in  progress,  particularly  at  Prince  Jfil- 
liam^s  Sound,  the  ships  were  frequently  visited  by  the  natives  of  the 
surrounding  country,  who  appeared  to  be  of  a  different  race  from 
those  seen  farther  south.  They  were  as  thievish  as  the  Nootkans, 
though  appnrently  less  ferocious  and  revengeful ;  and  Cook  gives 
several  examples  of  their  extraordinary  apathy  and  indifference, 
which  appears,  from  all  subsequent  accounts,  to  be  their  most 
remarkable  characteristic.  They,  also,  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  use  of  iron  and  copper,  of  which  metals,  particularly  of  copper, 
they  possessed  knives,  or  spear-heads,  rudely  made.  Among  them 
were  likewise  found  many  ornaments  made  of  glass  beads,  which 
were  evidently  of  European  manufacture :  yet  the  English  could 
not  learn  that  they  had  ever  had  direct  intercourse  with  any  civilized 
nation ;  and  Cook  very  justly  concluded  that  the  Russians  "  had 
never  been  among  them,  for,  if  that  had  been  the  case,  we  should 
hardly  have  found  them  clothed  in  such  valuable  skins  as  those  of 
tiie  sea  otter." 

Proceeding  south-westward  from  Cook's  River,  along  the  western 
side  of  the  peninsula  of  Aliaska,  the  English,  on  the  19th  of  June, 
fell  in  with  a  group  of  small  islands,  near  the  55th  parallel,  which 
appeared  to  correspond,  in  position,  with  the  Schumagin  Islands  of 
Bering ;  and,  while  sailing  amongst  them,  they  obtained,  from  some 
natives,  a  note  written  on  paper,  in  an  unknown  language,  which 
t!iey  supposed  to  be  Russian.  Having  reached  tiie  extremity  of  the 
land  in  that  direction,  they  doubled  the  point,  and,  sailing  again 
towards  the  east,  they  arrived,  on  the  27th,  at  a  large  island,  which 
proved  to  be  Unalashka,  one  ol  the  Aleutian  Archipelago,  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  accounts  of  the  Russians  as  a  place  of  resort 
for  their  traders :  natives  of  the  island  only  were  found  there ;  but, 
ap  its  position  with  reference  to  other  points  in  America,  and  to 
Kamtchatka,  was  supposed  to  be  represented  with  some  approach 
to  accuracy,  on  the  chart  published  at  St.  Petersburg,  the  Eng- 
lish, after  reaching  it,  were  better  able  to  determine  their  future 
course. 

Being  still  anxious  to  discover,  if  possible,  during  that  season, 
how  far  America  extended  to  the  north-west.  Cook  departed  from 
Unalashka  on  the  2d  of  July,  and,  sailing  northward  along  the  coast, 


*■ 


r 


-i  •■I'  1' 


Hit 


COOK    MEETS    RUSSIAN    TRADERS. 


[1778. 


he  carefully  examined  all  its  bays  and  recesses,  in  search  of  a  pas- 
sage towards  the  east,  until  he,  at  length,  on  the  9th  of  August, 
reached  a  point,  in  the  latitude  of  65  degrees  46  minutes,  which 
his  observations  induced  him  to  consider  as  the  "  north-western 
extremity  of  all  America."  This  point  he  named  Cape  Prince  of 
Wales,  and  thence  proceeding  westward,  across  a  channel  only  fifty 
miles  in  breadth,  he  arrived  at  another  point,  supposed  to  be  tiiat 
described,  in  the  account  of  Boring's  first  voyage,  as  the  Tchukoiskoi 
Aoss,  which  was  ascertained  to  be  the  easternmost  spot  in  Asia,  and 
was  accordingly  named  East  Cape.  The  passage  separating  these 
capes,  which  the  Russians  had  called  Bering^s  Strait,  was  suffered 
to  retain  that  appellation,  in  honor  of  the  navigator  who  first  sailed 
through  it. 

Beyond  Bering's  Strait,  the  American  coast  was  traced  by  the 
English,  north-eastward  upon  the  Arctic  Sea,  to  Icy  Cape,  in  the 
latitude  of  70  degrees  29  minutes,  where  the  progress  of  the  ex- 
plorers was  arrested  by  the  ice.  In  like  manner,  the  Asiatic  coast 
was  surveyed  north-westward,  to  Cape  North,  in  the  latitude  of  63 
degrees  56  minutes,  the  farthermost  point  to  which  it  was  then  pos- 
sible to  advance  in  that  direction  ;  and,  the  warm  season  being  by 
thi.^  time  ended.  Cook  judged  it  prudent  to  retire  to  the  south, 
deferring  the  continuation  of  his  researches  until  the  ensuing 
summer.  He  accordingly  repassed  Bering's  Strait,  and  on  the 
3d  of  October  his  sliips  were  again  anchored  in  the  harbor  of  Sam- 
agoonda,  on  the  north  side  of  Unalashka. 

From  this  place,  Corporal  Lcdyard  was  despatched  on  an  ex- 
ploring trip  into  the  interior  of  the  island,  where  he  at  length  dis- 
covered some  Russian  traders,  who  accompanied  him  back  to  the 
ships.  The  chief  of  these  traders,  named  Gerassim  Ismyloff,  was 
an  old  and  experienced  seaman,  who  had  formed  one  of  the  party 
under  Benyowsky,  in  their  adventurous  voyage  from  Kamtchatka 
to  China,  in  1770,  and  had  since  been  engaged  in  the  navigation 
and  traffic  between  Asia  and  the  Aleutian  Islands.  He  readily  ex- 
hibited to  Cook  the  few  charts  in  his  possession,  and  communicated 
what  he  knew  respecting  the  geography  of  that  part  of  the  world 
as  well  as  was  possible,  considering  that  neither  of  the  two  under- 
stood a  word  of  the  language  of  the  other.  The  information  thus 
received  from  IsmylolT,  however,  only  served  to  show  the  entire 
inaccuracy  of  the  ideas  of  the  Russians  with  regard  to  America, 
and  to  convince  the  English  navigator  of  the  importance  of  his  own 
discoveries. 


1779.] 


DEATH    OF    COOK. 


157 


Leaving  Unalashka  on  the  27th  of  October,  the  English  ships 
continued  their  voyage  southward  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  of  which 
the  two  largest,  called  Owyhee  and  Mowce,  (^Hawaii  and  Mauai,) 
were  first  discovered  in  the  latter  part  of  November.  They  passed 
the  winter  on  the  western  side  of  Owyhee,  in  a  harbor  called  Kara- 
kooa  Bay  i  and  there,  on  the  16th  of  February,  1779,  the  gallant 
and  generous  Cook  was  murdered  by  the  natives,  in  an  aflfray. 

Captain  Charles  Clerke,  who  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the 
expedition  after  this  melancholy  event,  endeavored,  in  the  summer 
of  1779,  to  effect  a  passage  through  the  Arctic  Sea  to  the  Atlantic. 
With  this  view,  he  left  the  Sandwich  Islands  in  March,  and,  on  the 
29th  of  April,  reached  the  harbor  of  Petropawlowsk,  in  the  Bay  of 
Avatscha,  the  principal  port  of  the  Russians  on  the  North  Pacific, 
where  the  English  were  received  with  the  utmost  kindness  by  the 
oiricers  of  the  government ;  and  their  ships  were  objects  of  the 
greatest  curiosity  to  the  people,  being  the  first  from  any  foreign 
country  which  had  ever  visited  that  part  of  the  world.  After  some 
days  spent  in  Kamtchatka,  Clerke  sailed  for  Bering's  Strait,  beyond 
whicli,  however,  he  was  unable  to  advance,  in  any  direction,  so  far 
as  in  the  preceding  year,  in  consequence  of  the  great  accumulation 
of  the  ice.  His  health  at  that  time  being,  moreover,  in  a  very  pre- 
carious state,  he  returned  to  Petropawlowsk,  near  which  he  died,  on 
tiio  '2-2d  of  August. 

Lieutenant  John  Gore  next  assumed  the  direction  of  the  enter- 
prise: but  the  ships  were  considered,  by  him  and  the  other  officers, 
unfit,  from  the  bad  condition  of  their  bottoms  and  rigging,  to  en- 
counter the  shocks  of  another  season  in  that  tempestuous  quarter 
of  the  ocean ;  and  it  was,  thereupon,  determined  that  they  should 
direct  their  course  immediately  for  England.  They  accordingly 
sailed  from  Petropawlowsk  in  October,  and  in  the  beginning  of 
December  they  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  River  Tygris,  near 
Canton. 

With  the  stay  of  tiic  English  ships  in  China  are  connected  ':ome 
circumstances,  which  gave  additional  importance  to  the  discoveries 
clfpcted  in  their  expedition. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that,  during  the  voyage  along  the 
r  Tth-west  coasts  of  America,  the  officers  and  seamen  had  obtained 
from  the  natives  at  Nootka,  Prince  William's  Sound,  and  other 
places  which  they  visited,  a  quantity  of  furs,  in  exchange  for  knives, 
old  clothes,  buttons,  and  other  trifies.     Ti'f'sp  furs  were  collected, 


1' 

•!8r,! 


^■ 


1 


1 1 


i  r 


158 


THE    ENGLISH    SELL   THEIR   FURS    AT    CANTON. 


l!  1    I  '     i 


[1779. 


for  the  most  part,  without  any  reference  to  their  value  as  merchan- 
dise, and  were  used  on  board  ship  as  clothes  or  bedding ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which,  many  of  them  had  become  spoiled,  and  others 
were  much  injured,  before  the  ships  reached  Petropawlowsk.  At 
that  place,  a  few  skins  were  sold  to  the  Russian  traders,  who  were 
anxious  to  purchase  the  whole  on  similar  terms ;  but  the  English 
officers,  having,  in  the  mean  time,  acquired  information  as  to  the 
high  prices  paid  for  furs  in  China,  prevailed  upon  the  seamen  to 
retain  those  which  they  still  possessed,  until  their  arrival  at  Canton, 
where  they  were  assured  that  a  much  better  market  would  be 
found. 

The  hopes  thus  excited  did  not  prove  fallacious.  The  ships 
commanded  by  Gore  were  the  only  ones,  with  the  exception  of  that 
under  Benyowsky,  in  1770,  which  had  ever  arrived  at  Canton 
directly  from  the  coasts  where  furs  were  obtained ;  and  no  sooner 
was  the  nature  of  the  merchandise  which  they  brought  known  in 
the  city,  than  all  became  eager  to  purchase  those  precious  objects 
of  comfort  and  luxury,  either  for  their  own  use  or  upon  speculation. 
The  Chinese,  according  to  custom,  began  by  offering  prices  much 
below  the  ordinary  ;  but  the  English,  being  on  their  guard,  refused 
such  terms,  and,  in  the  end,  their  whole  stock  of  furs  was  sold  for 
money  and  goods,  to  the  amount  of  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars. 
The  seamen,  on  witnessing  these  results,  became,  notwithstanding 
the  previous  length  of  their  cruise,  "  possessed  with  a  rage  to  return 
to  the  northern  coasts,  and,  by  another  cargo  of  skins,  to  make 
their  fortunes,  which  was,  at  one  time,  no*  far  short  of  mutiny :  " 
they  were,  however,  restrained  by  their  officers,  and,  after  the  com- 
pletion of  the  business  at  Canton,  the  ships  sailed  around  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  to  England,  where  they  arrived  in  the  beginning  of 
October,  1780. 

With  regard  to  the  novelty  of  the  discoveries  effected  in  this 
voyage,  it  will  be  seen,  on  comparing  the  course  of  the  English 
ships  with  those  taken  by  the  Spaniards,  in  1774  and  1775  —  that 
Cook  saw  no  part  of  the  west  coast  of  North  America,  south  of 
Mount  San  Jacinto  or  Edgecumb,  which  had  not  been  previously 
seen  by  Perez,  Bodega,  or  Heceta ;  and,  after  passing  that  point,  he 
was,  as  he  frequently  admits,  aided,  and  in  a  measure  guided,  by  the 
accounts  of  the  Russian  voyages.  The  observations  of  the  English 
were,  however,  infinitely  more  minute,  and  more  important,  in  their 
results,  than  those  of  any  or  all  the  other  navigators  who  had  pre- 


:4i 


779. 

;han- 
onse- 
ithers 
At 
were 
nglish 
,0  the 
len  to 
anton, 
lid  be 


1780.] 


RESULTS    OF    COOK  S    DISCOVERIES. 


159 


coded  them  in  the  exploration  of  the  North  Pacific :  for,  by  deter- 
mining accurately  the  positions  of  the  principal  points  on  the  coasts 
of  Asia  and  America,  bounding  that  sea,  they  first  afTorded  the 
means  of  ascertaining  the  extent  of  those  continents,  and  the  degree 
of  their  proximity  to  each  other,  respecting  which  the  most  er- 
roneous ideas  had  been  adopted ;  and  the  comparative  ease  and 
security  with  which  they  executed  this  task,  served  to  dispel  the 
apprehensions,  previously  entertained,  with  regard  to  expeditions 
through  that  quarter  of  the  ocean. 


a 


o 


!  ships 

of  that 

[Janton 

sooner 

own  in 

objects 

ulation. 

s  much 
refused 

sold  for 

I  dollars. 

landing 

return 

make 

utiny : " 
le  com- 
le  Cape 
ming  of 

in  this 
English 
;  —  that 
outh  of 
eviously 
(oint,  he 
,  by  the 
English 
in  their 
lad  pre- 


4,'.'.' 


}  I' 
I- 


I" 


1 


1^ 


160 


1781 


w 


CHAPTER    VII. 


1780  TO  1789. 


Commercial  Results  of  Cook's  Discoveries  —  Settlements  of  the  Russians  in  America 

—  Scheme  of  Ledyard  for  the  Trade  of  tlio  Nortli  Pacific  —  Voyage  of  La  P6rouse 

—  Direct  Trade  between  the  American  Coasts  and  Canton  commenced  —  Voyages 
of  the  English  Fur  Traders  —  Re-discovery  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca  —  Voyage  of 
Meares,  who  endeavors  to  find  a  great  River  described  by  the  Spaniards  —  First 
Voyages  from  the  Unitcii  States  to  the  South  Pacific,  and  to  Canton  —  Voyage  of 
the  Columbia  and  Wasliingtoii,  under  Kendrick  and  Gray,  from  Boston  to  the 
North  Pacific. 


Whil-;  1'  Cook  was  engaged  in  his  last  expedition,  Great  Britain 
became  ii'.  )lve(!  in  vvar3  with  the  United  States  of  America,  France, 
and  Spaiii ;  and,  as  there  was  no  prospect  of  a  speedy  termination 
of  the  co..tesls  at  the  time  when  the  ships  sent  out  under  that 
commander  returned  to  Europe,  the  British  government  considered 
it  prudent  to  withhold  from  the  world  all  information  respecting 
their  voyage.  The  regular  journals  of  the  ships,  together  with  the 
private  notes  and  memoranda  of  the  ofiiccrs  and  men  which  could 
be  collected,  were,  in  consequence,  placed  under  the  charge  of  the 
Board  of  Admiralty,  and  thus  remained  concealed  until  peace  had 
been  restored.  Notwithstm?jing  this  care,  however,  many  of  the 
occurrences  of  the  expedition  became  known,  the  importance,  or 
the  novelty,  of  which  was  such  as  to  raise  to  the  highest  degree  the 
curiosity  of  the  pui)lic,  not  only  in  England,  but  in  all  other  civilized 
countries. 

The  wars  having  been,  at  longih,  concluded,  the  regular  journals 
of  the  expedition  were  published  at  London,  in  the  winter  of  1784-5, 
under  the  care  of  the  learned  Bishop  Doug)as,  with  a  number  of 
maps,  charts,  and  other  illustrative  engra»ings ;  and  il  is  now 
scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that  the  anticipauons  which  had  been 
formed  as  to  the  importai  ;e  of  thf^ir  contents,  were  fully  realized. 

The    information    obtained   during   the   voyage,    respecting   the 

abundance  of  animals   of   tine   fur  on   the   north-west  coasts  of 

^merica,  and  the  high  prices  paid  for  their  skins  in  China,  became 


gene 

not  1 

coun 

byth 

been 

furs  ( 

expor 

own  I 

Bay  a 

was  s( 

thougl 

That  t 

tageou 

prices 

clear  tl 

trade  I 

the  fini 

part  of 

the  ope 

the  diffi 

ho  incrc 

to  reap 

labors  a 

The  : 

coveries 

during  tl 

l<a.     In 

kof,  Ivan 

Kamtcha 

Ijusi/iess ; 

trade  anc 

the  coinn 

three  yea 

continent 

and  Princ 

or  factorit 

Kiiktal\  o 

liiccr.     S 

Wfll  acquf 

apparently 

of  any  mr 


1780.] 


STATE    OF    THE    FUR   TRADE. 


161 


America 
Ptrouse 

Voyages 
jyage  of 
g  —  First 
oyage  of 
,n  to  the 


t  Britain 
France, 
mination 
der  that 
nsidcrcd 
specting 
with  the 
ch  could 
e  of  the 
ace  had 
y  of  the 
ance,  or 
luree  the 


ilized 


iciv 


journals 
1784-5, 
Imbcr  of 
is    now 
lad  been 
realized, 
jting   the 
loasts  of 
became 


generally  diffused  before  tlie  publication  of  the  journals,  and  it  did 
not  fail  to  attract  the  attention  of  enterprising  nnen  in  all  maritime 
countries.  The  trade  in  furs  had  been  conducted,  almost  wholly, 
by  the  British  and  the  Russians,  between  whom,  however,  there  had 
been  no  opportunity  for  competition.  The  Russians  procured  their 
furs  cliiefly  in  the  northern  parts  of  their  own  empire ;  and  they 
exported  to  China,  by  land,  all  such  as  were  not  required  for  their 
own  use.  The  British  market  was  supplied  entirely  from  Hudson's 
Bay  and  Canada ;  and  a  great  portion  of  the  skins  there  collected 
was  sent  to  Russia,  whence  many  of  them  found  their  way  to  China, 
though  none  had  ever  been  shipped  directly  for  the  latter  country. 
That  the  furs  of  Canada  and  Hudson's  Bay  might  be  sold  advan- 
tageously at  Canton  was  certain,  from  a  comparison  between  the 
prices  of  those  articles  in  London  and  in  Canton ;  and  it  was  also 
clear  that  still  greater  profits  might  be  secured  by  means  of  a  direct 
trade  between  China  and  the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  where 
the  finest  furs  were  to  be  obtained  more  easily  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world.  There  could  be,  nevertheless,  no  doubt  that,  after 
the  opening  of  such  a  trade,  the  prices  in  China  would  fall,  while 
the  difficulties  and  expenses  of  collecting  the  furs  in  America  would 
bo  increased  ;  and  it  was,  therefore,  material  that  those  who  wished 
to  reap  the  fullest  harvests  in  this  new  field,  should  begin  tiieir 
labors  as  speedily  as  possible. 

The  Russians  were  the  first  to  avail  themselves  of  Cook's  dis- 
coveries, respecting  which  they  had  derived  much  information 
during  the  stay  of  thv'^  British  ships  at  Petropawlovvsk  and  Tnaiash- 
ka.  In  1781,  an  association  was  formed  between  Gregory  Scheli- 
kof,  Ivan  Gollikof,  and  other  principal  fur  merchants  of  Siberia  and 
Kamtchatka,  for  the  more  extensive  and  eflective  conduct  of  their 
business  ;  and  three  vessels.  (Mpiippod  by  them  for  a  long  voyage  of 
trade  and  exploration,  sailed  from  Ochotsk,  in  August,  I78-'}.  under 
the  command  of  Schelikof.  In  this  expedition  they  were  absent 
three  vears,  in  the  course  of  which  the  shores  of  the  American 
continent  and  islands,  between  the  south-west  extremity  of  Aliaska 
and  Prince  William's  Sound,  were  examined,  and  several  colonies 
or  factories  were  established,  particularly  on  the  large  island  of 
Kiiktak,  or  Kodiak,  near  the  entrance  of  the  bay  called  Cook^s 
Rii'cr.  Schelikof  was  a  man  of  great  intre[)idity  and  perseverance, 
well  acquainted  with  the  business  in  which  he  was  engaged,  and 
apparently  never  troubled  by  scruples  as  to  the  morality  or  humanity 
of  any  measure,  after  he  had  satisfied  himself  of  its  expediency. 


I 


*■ 


162 


LEDVARD  S    SCHEME    FOll    THE    FL'R    TRADE. 


[178:2. 


"' 


He  and  his  followers  are  said  to  have  exhibited  the  most  barbarous 
dispositions  in  their  treatment  of  the  natives  on  the  coasts,  whole 
tribes  of  whom  were  put  to  death  upon  the  slifjfhtest  prospect  of 
advantage  from  their  destruction,  and  often  through  mere  wanton- 
ness of  cruelty. 

In  1787,  the  Russians  made  establishments,  also,  on  the  shores  of 
Cook's  River ;  and,  in  the  following  year,  two  vessels  were  sent 
from  Asia  by  the  trading  association,  under  Ismylof  (one  of  the  men 
found  by  Cook  at  Unalashka)  and  Betscharef,  who  proceeded  as 
far  east  as  the  bay  at  the  foot  of  Mount  St.  Elias,  called  Yakutat 
by  the  natives,  and  Admiralty  Bay  by  the  English.  It  seems  to 
have  also  been  the  object  of  these  traders  to  take  possession  of 
Nootka  Sound,  in  which,  however,  they  were  anticipated,  as  will 
be  shown  in  the  ensuing  chapter. 

The  empress  Catharine  had  likewise  become  anxious  to  acquire 
glory  by  an  ex|)edition  for  discoveries  in  the  North  Pacific  ;  but,  as 
none  of  her  subjects  were  qualified  to  conduct  such  an  enterprise, 
she  engaged  for  the  })urpose  Captain  Rillings,  an  Englishman,  who 
had  accompanied  Cook,  as  assistant  astronomer,  in  his  last  voyage. 
Under  his  direction,  two  ships  wert;  built  at  Petropawlowsk  ;  l)ut 
they  could  not  be  comj)lcted  before  1790,  when  Billings  began  his 
voyage,  as  will  be  hereafter  n;lated. 

Among  other  nations,  the  first  attempt  to  engage  in  llie  direct 
trade  between  the  north-west  coasts  of  America  and  China  a|)pcars 
to  have  been  made  by  Mr.  Bolts,  an  eminent  English  merchant, 
residing  at  Trieste,  who,  in  1781,  ecinipped  a  vessel  for  that  pur- 
pose, to  be  navigated  under  the  imperial  flag  of  Germany  :  but  he 
was  obliged,  from  some  unknown  cause,  to  abandon  the  under- 
taking. 

A  similar  attempt  was  shortly  after  made,  with  no  greater  suc- 
cess, in  the  United  States  of  America.  John  LedyartI,  who  has 
been  already  mentioned  as  one  of  the  crew  of  Cook's  ship  during 
the  last  voyage  of  tliat  navigator,  haviuir  deserted,  or  rather  es- 
caped, from  a  British  frii^ate.  in  which  he  whs  serving  against  his 
countrymen,  near  New  York,  in  17H-2,  prevailed  on  the  celebrated 
merchant  and  financier.  Robert  Morris,  of  IMiiladelphia,  to  fit  out  a 
vessel,  to  be  employed,  undcT  his  direction,  in  the  fur  trade  of  the 
North  Pacific.  The  pecuniary  embarrassments  of  Mr.  Morris, 
however,  obliged  him  to  abandon  the  enterpris(;  before  the  vessel 
was  ready  for  sea ;  and  Ledyard.  finding  his  efi'orts  to  procure 
cooperation  for  that  object  unavailing  in  America,  went  to  France  in 


h 


1786.] 


VOYAGE    OF    L\    PEUOUSE. 


163 


1784,  where  he,  in  concert  with  Pnul  Jones,  endeavored  to  interest 
the  government,  or  private  capitahsts,  in  his  scheme. 

The  French  gave  no  encouragement  to  Ledyard's  plan  for  prose- 
cuting the  fur  trade  ;  and  no  private  vessels  were  sent  from  that 
kingdom  to  the  North  Pacilic  until  1791.*  The  government  of 
France,  however,  was  not  unaware  of  the  advantages  which  might 
be  derived  from  this  branch  of  conunerce  ;  and  their  great  naviga- 
tor, La  Perouse,  on  leaving  his  country  for  the  Pacilic,  in  1785, 
was  specially  instructed  to  "  explore  the  parts  of  the  north-west 
coasts  of  America  which  had  not  been  examined  by  Cook,  and  of 
which  the  Russian  accounts  gave  no  idea,  in  order  to  obtain  infor- 
mation respecting  the  fur  truie,  and  also  to  learn  whether,  in  those 
unknown  })arts,  some  river  or  internal  sea  might  not  be  found 
communicating  with  Hudson's  Bay  or  BatUn's  Bay."f 

The  nmltiplicity  of  objects,  in  every  department  of  science,  to 
which  La  Perouse  was  recjuired  by  his  instructions  to  attend,  during 
his  voyage,  prevented  him  from  devoting  more  than  three  months 
to  the  north-west  coasts  of  America ;  and,  of  that  time,  he  spent 
one  third  at  anchor,  in  a  bay  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Fairweather, 
near  which  he  lirst  saw  the  coast,  on  the  '2'3i\  of  June,  17SG.  In 
this  bay,  cidled,  by  La  Perouse,  Port  dcs  Fra)tfais,'l  observations 
were  made  by  the  French  in  various  points  of  science  ;  and  they 
traded  with  the  natives,  of  whose  persons,  language,  arts,  customs, 
itc,  minute  accounts  are  presented  in  the  journals  of  the  expedi- 


' 


11 


*  Allcr  the  fiiiliiri"  of  this  sfliciiic,  I^cdyard  luulcrtook,  nt  flio  su^gt^stion  of  Mr. 
JitViTson,  thcii  minister  plenipotentiary  of  tlie  United  States  in  France,  to  proceed 
by  land  to  Kanitchatka,  thence  by  sea  to  Noolka  Sound,  or  some  other  point  on  the 
west  coast  of  North  America,  and  thence  across  the  continent,  to  the  Atlantic 
stites  (if  the  P'ederal  I'nion.  With  this  view,  j)ermission  was  obtained,  throu^fh  the 
airi'iicy  of  the  celebrated  liaron  de  (iriinm,  from  the  empress  of  Russia,  for  Ledyard 
to  pass  throui;h  her  dominions ;  and,  tlius  jirotected,  as  well  ns  aided,  by  the  govern- 
ment of  that  empire,  he  advanced  as  far  as  Irkutsk,  in  Siberia,  on  his  way  to 
Ochotsk,  where  he  proposed  to  embark  for  America.  At  Irkutsk,  however,  he  was 
arrested,  by  order  of  th(^  empress,  on  the  niirht  of  the  2-lth  of  February,  1786,  and 
was  thence  conveyed  to  the  frontiers  of  Poland,  wliere  he  was  liberated,  with  an 
injunction  not  ajiain  to  set  foot  in  the  Russian  territory.  'I'lie  reasons  for  liis  expul- 
sion are  uiiknr)wn;  but  it  was  probabl',-  occasioned  by  the  representations  of  the 
inemt)£rs  of  the  Russian  American  Tradinjr  Com[)any,  already  mentioned,  who 
wished  to  keep  their  proceedinirs  secret.  On  the  ir>th  of  November  foUowinif,  Led- 
yard's irrecjulnr  life  was  ended  at  Cairo,  whither  he  had  jrone  under  the  auspices  of 
tlie  Alrican  Association  of  London,  on  his  way  to  seek  for  the  sources  of  the  Nile. 
—  Se(!  tiio  Biography  of  Ledyard,  by  Jarcd  Sparks. 

t  Kinir  Louis  XVI.  is  said  to  have  |>lanned  the  expedition  of  La  Perouse  himself, 
and  to  have  drawn  up  the  <;reater  part  of  the  instructions  with  his  own  hand,  before 
he  communicated  his  intentions  to  any  other  person. 

t  No  account  of  this  extraordinary  place  has  been  given  by  any  other  navigator. 


u.i'  I 


».<! 


'     !    (' 


M' 


I  h 


164 


TOTAGB    OF    LA    PEROUSE. 


[1786. 


tion.  Quitting  the  Port  dcs  Fran^ais  on  the  4th  of  August,  they 
sailed  towards  the  south,  and  examined  the  coasts  between  Mount 
San  Jacinto,  or  Edgecunib,  and  Port  Bucaruli,  as  well  as  those 
discovered  by  the  Spaniards  in  1774  and  1775,  between  the  54th 
and  the  52d  parallels,  forming  tlie  western  side  of  Queen  Char- 
lotte's Island,  the  separation  of  which  from  the  American  continent 
seems  to  have  been  suspected  by  La  Perouse.  Continuing  onwards, 
they  passed  the  mouth  of  Nootka  Sound  without  entering  it,  and, 
on  the  8lh  of  September,  they  reached  Monterey,  where  they  were 
received  with  the  greatest  attention,  agreeably  to  orders  previously 
sent  thilher  from  Mexico.  At  Monterey,  the  observations  were 
renewed,  and  the  latitude  and  longitude  of  that  part  of  the  coast 
were,  for  the  first  time,  accurately  determined ;  after  which,  on  the 
24th  of  the  month,  the  French  ships  quitted  the  American  coast 
forever. 

The  remarks  and  surmises  of  this  accomplished  officer,  on  several 
points  connected  with  the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  display 
much  sagacity  and  s';ience ;  but  his  labors  were  rendered  almost 
useless  to  the  world,  by  the  delay  in  the  publication  of  his  journals, 
which  did  not  ap|)ear  i  ntil  1797,  when  nearly  all  the  places  visited 
by  him  had  become  well  known,  from  the  descriptions  of  many 
other  navigators.* 

The  first  persons  who  actually  engaged  in  the  direct  trade 
between  the  north-west  coasts  of  America  and  China,  were  British 
subjects,  tliough  sailing,  nearly  all,  under  the  Portuguese  flag. 

At  the  time  of  the  publication  of  Cook's  journals,  the  British 
trade  in  the  Pacific  was  divided  between  two  great  commercial 
corporations,  each  possessing  peculiar  privileges,  secured  to  itself 
by  act  of  parliament,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  subjects  of  the 
same  nation.  Tiius  no  British  subjects,  except  those  in  the  ser- 
vice, or  bearing  the  license,  of  the  South  Sea  Company,  could  make 


•  Sailing  f; '111  Monterey,  La  Perousr  visited,  in  succession,  lUacao,  tho  Philippine 
Ishnds,  the  coast  of  Tartary,  Kamtchatka,  the  Navijjators'  Ishinds,  md  New  Hol- 
land. After  leaving  the  latter  country,  in  February,  1787,  nothing  was  heard  of  his 
siiips  until  Itf'^i,  wiien  information  was  received  by  the  French  government,  in  con- 
fiMlui'nce  of  wiiich  a  vessel  was  sent  to  tlic  Pacific,  and  tiie  wreclts  of  both  vessels 
'vere  discovered  on  the  little  island  of  Malicolo,  one  of  the  New  Hebrides  Archipel- 
ago, east  of  New  Holland.  From  tiie  accounts  of  the  natives,  it  appeared  that  a 
number  of  the  French  landed  on  the  island  atler  the  wreck  of  tlieir  ships,  and  built 
a  small  vess-'l,  in  which  they  took  their  departure,  and  were  d')ul)t]e-:;i  1  ist.  The 
journals  of  the  e.xpedition,  and  letters  r  ;eived  from  the  commander  a'ld  other 
officers,  were  published  at  Paris  in  17!i7,  under  the  direction  of  Clairet  de  Fleurieu, 
and  were  iinmediately  translated  into  English  and  other  European  languages. 


\:i 


[1786. 

It,  they 
Mount 
i  those 
le  51th 
I  Char- 
tntinent 
Inwards, 
it,  and, 
ey  were 
cviously 
ns  were 
ne  coast 
,  on  the 
an  coast 

n  several 
,  display 
d  almost 
journals, 
es  visited 
of  many 

!ct   trade 
e  British 

lag. 

c  British 

Immercial 
to  itself 

Its  of  the 
the  ser- 
ild  make 

Philippine 
New  Hol- 
lieard  of  his 
pnt,  in  con- 
poth  vessels 
[s  Archipcl- 
|ared  that  a 
and  built 
1 1  .St.     Tlic 
a'ul   otlipr 
ke  Fleurieu, 
Igea. 


1785.] 


VOYAGE    OF    1 1  ANN A. 


165 


Hf 


expeditions,  for  trade  or  fishery,  by  way  of  Cape  Horn  or  Magel- 
lan's Straits,  to  any  part  of  the  west  coast  of  America,  or  the  seas 
;ind  islands  within  three  hundred  leaij[uea  of  it:  while  no  British 
snhjocts,  not  employed  or  licensed  by  the  East  India  Company, 
could  proceed,  for  either  of  those  purposes,  around  the  Cape  of 
Good  Mope,  to  ar>y  seas  or  lands  <'ast  of  that  point,  between  it 
ind  Mogellan's  Straits ;  with  the  provision,  however,  that  the  privi- 
leges conferred  on  the  East  India  Company  should  not  be  considered 
r.s  interfering  with  those  previously  granted  to  the  other  association. 
All  British  vessels,  found  trading  or  fishing  contrary  to  the  acts  by 
which  these  privileges  were  conferred,  became  liable  to  confiscation, 
and  the  persons  directing  such  expeditions  to  heavy  penalties. 

Tlius  the  East  India  Company  could  carry  on  the  direct  trade 
between  the  north-west  coasts  of  America  and  China,  at  the  risk  of 
II  dispute  with  the  Sotith  Sea  Comj)any,  as  to  the  extent  of  th< 
interference  with  the  i)rivilegos  of  the  latter ;  while  those  privileges 
were  rendered  entirely  useless  to  the  South  Sea  Company,  for  the 
purposes  of  that  trade,  by  the  exclusion  of  its  vessels  from  the 
Chinese  ports,  which  ottered  the  j)rincipal,  if  not  the  only,  profitable 
market  for  furs.  Accordingly,  some  of  the  earliest  commercial 
expeditions  of  the  British  to  the  north-west  coasts  were  made  under 
tlic  Hag  of  the  ICast  India  Company  ;  while  other  subjects  of  that 
nation  eluded  the  regulations  of  both  companies,  by  engaging  in 
the  fur  trade,  under  the  Mag  of  Portugal,  or  with  licenses  granted 
by  the  Portuguese  authorities  at  Macao,  near  Canton. 

The  earliest  of  these  expeditions  appears  to  have  been  that  of 
.Tames  Hanna,  an  Englishman,  who  sailed  from  Macao,  in  a  small 
vessel  under  Portuguese  colors,  in  April,  ITf-io,*  and  arrived  at 
Nootka  Sound  in  August  following.  The  natives  of  that  country 
at  first  refused  to  have  any  dealings  with  him,  and  endeavored  to 
seize  his  vessel,  and  murder  his  crew ;  but  they  were  foiled  in  the 
attempt,  and,  after  some  combats  between  the  parties,  a  trade  was 
estahlislied,  the  result  of  which  was,  that  Ilanna  brought  back  to 

*  The  rollowiniT  nrnoimt  of  the  movpincnts  of  the  fur  traders  in  the  Xorih  Pacific, 
between  IT;-.')  and  IT-it,  is  derived  prineipally  from  the  Narrative  of  the  Voyage 
of  the  Ship  (Jueen  Cliailotte,  by  lier  captain,  Jolin  Dixon,  or  rather  by  her  super- 
cargo, Heresford  —  the  Narrative  of  the  Voyaire  of  the  Ship  Kinj^  G-eoriife,  by  her 
raptain,  Natlianiel  Porilock  —  the  Narrative  of  the  Voyajjcs  of  Captain  John  Meares, 
to  whicii  is  prefixed  a  Dissertation  on  the  Probability  of  a  Northern  Passage  between 
tlic  Atlantic  and  th"  Paeillc,  and  the  memorial  and  doeuments  in  proof,  presented 
by  Captain  Meares  to  the  Hritisli  parliament  in  May,  17!M).  Many  notable  diftercnces 
will  be  shown  to  exist  between  the  statements  of  Meares  in  his  narratice  and  hia 
memorial. 


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166 


VOYAGES    OF    PETERS,    LOWRIE,    AND    MCARES. 


[1786. 


China,  before  the  end  of  the  year,  furs  worth  more  than  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  in  return  for  the  old  clothes,  iron,  and  trifles, 
which  he  had  carried  out  in  the  spring. 

In  1786,  Hanna  made  another  voyage  to  the  coasts ;  but  he  had 
then  to  compete  with  traders  from  Bengal  and  England,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  his  profits  were  much  less  than  in  the  preceding 
voyage.  In  the  same  year,  also,  an  attempt  was  made  to  establish 
a  direct  trade  between  Macao  an.d  Kamtchatka,  to  be  carried  on 
under  the  Portuguese  flag.  With  this  view.  Captain  Peters  was 
sent  in  the  brig  Lark  to  Petropawlowsk,  where  he  made  arrange- 
ments with  Schelikof,  the  head  of  the  American  Trading  Company, 
to  supply  them  regularly  with  European  and  Chinese  goods,  taking 
furs  in  return ;  but  the  Lark  was  lost,  with  nearly  all  on  board,  on 
Copper  Island,  one  of  the  westernmost  of  the  Aleutian  Archipelago, 
in  her  voyage  back  to  China,  and  no  attempt  for  the  same  purpose 
was  afterwards  made. 

Voyages  were,  about  the  same  time,  made  to  the  North  Pacific, 
in  search  of  furs,  by  Captains  Lowrie  and  Guise,  in  two  small 
vessels  from  Bombay,  and  by  Captains  Meares  and  Tipping,  in  two 
others  from  Calcutta,  all  under  the  flag  of  the  East  India  Company. 
Lowrie  and  Guise  went  to  Nootka  Sound,  and  thence  northward, 
along  the  coasts,  to  Prince  William's  Sound,  from  which  they  pro- 
ceeded to  Macao.  Meares  and  Tipping  sailed  to  the  Aleutian 
Islands,  and  thence  to  Prince  William's  Sound,  after  leaving  which 
nothing  was  ever  heard  of  Tipping  or  his  vessel :  Meares  spent  the 
winter  of  1786—7  in  that  sound,  where  more  than  half  of  his 
crew  died  from  want  or  scurvy. 

In  the  above-mentioned  voyages,  nothing  of  importance  was 
learned  respecting  the  geography  of  North-west  America.  In  order 
to  convey  a  clear  idea  of  the  extent  and  value  of  the  discoveries 
effected  by  the  fur  traders  in  the  three  years  next  ensuing,  it  should 
be  premised  that,  in  the  beginning  of  that  period,  the  coast  of  the 
American  continent  was  supposed,  according  to  the  best  accounts 
and  charts,  to  run  in  a  regular,  and  almost  unbroken,  line  north- 
westward, from  Cape  Mendocino,  near  the  40th  degree  of  latitude, 
to  Mount  St.  Elias,  near  the  60th ;  the  innumerable  islands  which 
are  now  known  to  extend  in  chains  between  the  continent  and  the 
open  Pacific  Ocean,  from  the  48th  degree  to  the  58th,  being 
regarded  as  the  main  land  of  North  America.  The  western  sides 
of  the  most  western  of  these  islands  had  been  examined,  though 
imperfectly,  in  their  whole  length,  by  the  Spaniards,  in  1774  and 


\  'I 


[1786. 

I  twenty 
d  trifles, 

t  he  had 
n  conse- 
ireceding 

establish 
arried  on 
eters  was 
3  arrange- 
Company, 
ds,  taking 

board,  on 
chipelago, 
le  purpose 

rth  Pacific, 
two  small 
ing,  in  two 
Company, 
northward, 
1  they  pro- 
e  Aleutian 
tving  which 
(S  spent  the 
lalf  of  his 


1787.] 


MAQUINNA,    KING    OF    NOOTKA. 


167 


1775:  Cook  had,  in  1778,  seen  the  portions  about  Nootka  Sound 
and  Mount  San  Jacinto,  or  Edgecumb,  leaving  unexplored  the  inter- 
mediate shores,  which  were  represented  —  as  expressed  on  the  charts 
attached  to  his  journal  —  according  to  the  accounts  of  the  Spanish 
navigators;  and  those  coasts  had  also  been  seen  by  La  Perouse, 
who  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  suspect  their  separation  from 
the  continent,  though  he  took  no  measures  to  ascertain  the  fact,  by 
penetrating  any  of  the  numerous  openings  which  he  observed  when 
passing  them  in  )786.  The  coasts  south  of  Nootka  Sound,  to 
Cape  Mendocino,  were  not  visited  by  the  people  of  any  civilized 
nation  between  the  period  of  Cook's  voyage  and  1787 ;  and  the 
best  charts  of  them  were  those  of  the  Spaniards,  founded  on  the 
observations  of  Heceta  and  Bodega.  The  parts  respecting  which 
tiie  most  accurate  information  had  been  obtained  were  those  west- 
ward from  Mount  St.  Elias,  to  the  Aleutian  Islands :  that  division 
of  the  coast  was,  indeed,  so  thoroughly  examined  by  Cook,  in  1778, 
that  very  little  was  left  for  subsequent  navigators,  except  to  verify 
his  statements  and  conclusions. 

The  principal  places  of  resort  for  the  fur  traders  on  the  American 
coasts  were,  Nootka  or  King  George's  Sound,  —  Norfolk  Sound,  the 
Port  Guadelupe  of  the  Spaniards,  near  their  Mount  San  Jacinto,  — 
Prince  William's  Sound,  and  Cook's  River.  The  two  last-mentioned 
places,  having  been,  in  1788,  occupied  by  the  Russians,  under 
Schclikof,  were  seldom  visited  afterwards  by  the  vessels  of  other 
nations  ;  and,  as  the  country  about  Nootka  was  well  supplied  with 
wood  fit  for  ship-building,  and  had  a  more  agreeable  climate  than 
could  be  found  farther  north,  it  was  generally  selected  as  the  point 
of  destination,  rendezvous,  and  departure,  by  the  traders.  The 
people  there,  as  already  mentioned,  exhibited,  at  first,  great  oppo- 
sition to  the  foreigners ;  but  they  soon  acquired  a  taste  for  knives, 
blankets,  and  other  such  articles  of  luxury  or  use,  to  gratify  which 
they  were  ready  not  only  to  traffic,  but  even  to  engage  in  labor  with 
some  show  of  assiduity.  Their  king  was  named  Maquinna:  his 
relations,  Wicanish  and  Tatoochseatticus,  ruled  over  the  tribes 
farther  south-westward,  inhabiting  the  shores  of  two  large  bays, 
called  Clyoquot  and  Nittinat.  Maquinna,  whose  name  will  fre- 
quently appear  in  the  following  pages,  possessed  in  a  high  degree 
the  cunning,  ferocity,  and  vindictiveness,  characteristic  of  his  race ; 
for,  though  he  occasionally  exhibited  evidences  of  better  qualities, 
yet,  like  the  other  chiefs,  he  seldom  lost  an  opportunity  for  the 


,n 


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^^i 


168 


TAMAHAMAHA,    KING    OF    OWYHEE. 


[1787. 


[U-l>. 


i : 


?  h 


commission  of  an  act  of  blood  or  perfidy,  in  gratification  of  his 
desires  for  revenge  or  profit. 

The  importance  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  to  the  commerce  of  the 
whole  North  Pacific  was  also  soon  made  apparent ;  and  they 
became,  in  a  few  years,  the  favorite  places  of  refreshment  of  all 
vessels  navigating  between  Cape  Horn  and  the  north-west  coasts 
of  America,  and  between  those  coasts  and  China.  Their  soil  is 
fertile,  their  climate  delightful,  and  their  productions  are  precisely 
those  most  useful  to  vessels  engaged  in  long  voyages.  Their 
inhabitants,  though  naturally  indolent,  false,  and  treacherous,  are 
not  positively  ferocious ;  and  they  are  endowed  with  much  cunning 
and  mechanical  aptitude,  which  led  them  quickly  to  perceive  the 
immediate  benefits  to  be  derived  from  an  intercourse  with  strangers, 
and  to  submit  to  restraints,  in  order  to  secure  such  advantages.  At 
the  time  of  their  discovery,  the  islands  were  governed  by  separate 
chiefs :  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  fifteen  years,  however,  they  all 
fell  under  the  authority  of  one  man,  Mahe-Mahe,  or  Tamahamaha, 
who,  by  the  possession  of  extraordinary  acutencss  and  sagacity, 
combined  with  courage  and  steadiness  of  purpose,  overcame  all 
his  rivals,  and  kept  up  something  like  a  regular  government  until 
his  death.  The  most  formidable  opponent  of  Tamahamaha  was 
Tianna,  a  resolute  and  ferocious  chief,  who  accompanied  Meares  to 
Canton  in  1787,  and  there  acquired  many  new  ideas,  which  gave 
him,  for  some  time,  considerable  advantages ;  but  he  was,  in  the 
end,  defeated  and  slain  by  his  rival. 

The  first  discoveries,  worthy  of  note,  made  on  the  north-west 
coasts  of  America,  after  Cook's  voyage,  were  those  of  Captains 
Portlock  and  Dixon,  who  were  sent  from  London,  in  1785,  in  com- 
mand of  the  ships  King  George  and  Queen  Charlotte,  by  a 
mercantile  association,  styled  the  King  George's  Sound  Comjpany. 
The  object  of  this  association  was  to  monopolize  the  direct  trade 
between  the  North  Pacific  coasts  and  China,  with  which  view  its 
operations  were  to  be  conducted  in  the  following  manner :  —  Under 
the  protection  of  licenses,  granted  by  the  South  Sea  Company,  its 
vessels  were  to  proceed,  by  way  of  Cape  Horn,  to  the  north-west 
coasts  of  America,  laden  with  goods,  whicli  were  there  to  be  bar- 
tered for  furs ;  the  furs  were  to  be  carried  to  Canton,  and  there 
sold  by  the  agents  of  the  East  India  Company,  agreeably  to  a  con- 
tract with  that  body;  and  the  produce  of  their  sale  was  to  be 
vested  in  teas,  and  other  Chinese  commodities,  which  were  to  be 


■:i» 


MA  \ 


f    }■ 


[1787. 

,  of  his 

3  of  the 
id  they 
It  of  ail 
it  coasts 
r  soil  is 
precisely 
,  Their 
rous,  are 

cunning 
jeive  the 
strangers, 
ges.  At 
'  separate 
r,  they  all 
lahamaha, 

sagacity, 
rcame  all 
nent  until 
maha  was 
Meares  to 
hich  gave 
as,  in  the 


1787.] 


VOYAGES  OP  POKTLOCK  AND  DIXON. 


169 


brought  by  the  ships,  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  to  England. 
Portlock  and  Dixon  were  both  intelligent  men,  well  acquainted  with 
the  theory  and  practice  of  navigation,  and  their  ships  were  well 
provided  with  instruments  for  ascertaining  geographical  positions ; 
the  narratives  published  by  them,  after  their  return  to  England, 
though  tedious  to  the  general  reader,  from  the  minuteness  of  the 
details  of  trifling  or  personal  matters,  and  not  always  strictly  true, 
are,  nevertheless,  valuable,  as  showing  the  history  of  the  fur  trade 
in  the  North  Pacific,  and  of  the  discovery  of  the  American  coasts 
of  that  ocean,  between  the  time  of  Cook's  expedition  and  the  year 
1788. 

Portlock  and  Dixon  left  England  together  in  August,  1785,  and, 
passing  around  Cape  Horn,  and  through  the  group  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  they  reached  Cook's  River  in  July,  1786.  There  they  met 
some  Russians,  though  no  establishment  had  been  then  formed  by 
that  nation  east  of  the  Island  of  Kodiak ;  and,  after  a  short  stay, 
they  proceeded  to  Nootka  Sound,  where  they  expected  to  spend 
the  winter.  They  were,  however,  unable  to  enter  that  bay,  or  any 
other  place  on  the  American  coast,  in  consequence  of  the  violence 
of  the  winds,  and  were  obliged  to  return  to  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
where  they  remained,  very  uncomfortably,  until  the  spring  of  1787  : 
they  then  again  went  to  the  coasts  about  Cook's  River  and  Prince 
William's  Sound,  in  the  latter  of  which  places  they  found  Captain 
Meares,  with  his  vessel  frozen  up,  more  than  half  of  his  crew  dead, 
and  the  remainder  sufifering  dreadfully  irom  scurvy,  as  already  men- 
tioned. The  manner  in  which  Meares  was  treated  by  his  country- 
men on  this  occasion,  has  been  represented  by  him,  in  the  narrative 
of  his  voyages,  in  a  manner  very  different  from  that  in  which  it 
appears  on  the  pages  of  Portlock  and  Dixon ;  the  latter  asserting 
that  they  rendered  him  every  assistance  in  their  power,  while  he, 
on  the  other  hand,  declares  that  their  conduct  towards  him  was 
selfish  and  inhuman  in  the  extreme. 

At  Prince  William's  Sound  Dixon  left  Portlock,  and  proceeded 
along  the  coast,  eastward,  to  the  inlet  on  the  south  side  of  Mount 
San  Jacinto,  or  Edgecumb,  called  Port  Remedlos  by  Bodega,  but  to 
which  he  thought  proper  to  give  the  name  of  Norfolk  Sound.  He 
"had,  indeed,  heard  that  the  Spaniards  anchored  very  near  this 
place  in  1775  ; "  but  this  account,  "  he  was  afraid,  was  not  absolutely 
to  be  depended  on,"  although  Maurelle's  journal,  containing  accu- 
rate descriptions  of  that  part  of  the  coast,  had  been  published  in 
English,  at  London,  in  1781.  In  Hke  manner,  Dixon  claimed  the 
22 


■t 


m 


\  :  J,? 


I   vi'i; 


.11  > ! ; 


vt 


1 


no 


VOVAGES    OF    DUNCAN    AND    COLNETT. 


[1787. 


1787. 


sn 


■J  i 


m 


MM 


!■;  ■  \  ' 


M..,;!l 


ih: 


ii 

m 

.-  i 

^iMa 

li :: .,' 

discovery  of  the  land  farther  soutli,  between  the  54th  and  the  52d 
degrees  of  latitude,  on  the  ground  that  it  had  not  been  seen  by 
Cook,  though  it  is  specially  marked  on  the  chart  of  that  navigator, 
as  found  by  the  Spaniards  in  1775 ;  and,  having  become  convinced, 
from  the  reports  of  the  natives,  that  this  land  was  separated  from 
the  American  continent  by  water,  he  bestowed  on  it  the  name  of 
Q^ueen  Charlotte^s  Island,  and  on  the  passage  immediately  north  of 
it,  that  of  Dixon^s  Entrance.  From  this  part  of  the  coast  Dixon 
proceeded  to  Nootka,  and  thence,  by  the  Sandwich  Islands,  to 
Canton,  where  he  rejoined  Portlock,  who  had  passed  the  whole  of 
the  trading  season  on  the  coast,  between  Prince  William's  Sound 
and  Mount  St.  Elias. 

In  China,  Portlock  and  Dixon  found  the  price  of  furs  much 
reduced,  from  the  great  quantities  of  those  articles  which  had 
entered  the  country  during  the  season  ;  so  great,  indeed,  was  the 
fall  in  their  value,  that,  according  to  La  Perouse,  they  were  higher 
at  Petropawlowsk  than  at  Canton  during  the  whole  of  1787.  From 
this  circumstance,  and  also  from  the  alleged  unfairness  of  the  East 
India  Company's  agents  towards  them,  in  the  sale  of  their  cargoes, 
the  profits  of  the  voyage  of  the  King  George  and  the  Queen 
Charlotte,  from  the  teas  and  silks  which  they  carried  to  England, 
were  not  sufficient  to  cover  the  expenses  of  their  expedition. 

Before  Portlock  and  Dixon  quitted  the  north-west  coasts  of 
America,  in  1787,  they  met  two  other  vessels,  the  Princess  Royal, 
commanded  by  Captain  Duncan,  and  the  Prince  of  Wales,  under 
Captain  Colnett,  which  had  been  also  sent,  by  the  King  George's 
Sound  Company,  to  prosecute  the  fur  trade  in  the  North  Pjicific. 
Duncan,  in  the  following  year,  ascertained  the  separation  of  Queen 
Charlotte's  Island  from  the  main  land,  which  had  been  assumed  by 
Dixon,  and,  before  him,  by  La  Perouse ;  he  also  explored  the  sea 
between  that  island  and  the  continent,  in  which  he  discovered  a 
group  of  small  islands,  named  by  him  the  Princess  RoyaVs  Archi- 
pelago ;  and  thence  he  ran  down  the  coast,  by  Nootka  Sound  and 
Cape  Flattery,  to  the  47th  degree  of  latitude,  from  which  he  took 
his  departure  for  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  China. 

The  discovery  of  these  islands,  and  of  numerous  openings  in  the 
coast,  which  appeared  to  be  the  mouths  of  channels,  from  that  part 
of  the  Pacific,  extending  far  eastward  into  the  land,  led  to  the 
suspicion  that  the  whole  north-western  division  of  America  might  be 
a  vast  collection  of  islands ;  and  the  old  story  of  Admiral  Fonte's 
voyage  began  to  gain  credit.     The  islands  and  reputed  islands  in 


questi 

throu^ 

sixty  I 

of  exf 

Pacific 

the  53 

to  hav( 

TJie 

the  san 


[1787. 

he  52d 
seen  by 
ivigator, 
ivinced, 
ed  from 
lame  of 
north  of 
!t  Dixon 
lands,  to 
vhole  of 
s  Sound 

irs  much 

hich  had 

,  was  the 

re  higher 

7.    From 

F  the  East 

ir  cargoes, 

he  Queen 

I  England, 

pdition. 
coasts  of 

ess  Royal, 
cs,  under 
George's 
th  Pacific, 
of  Queen 
ssumed  by 
d  the  sea 
scovered  a 
aVs  Archi- 
Sound  and 
:h  he  took 

lings  in  the 
that  part 
led  to  the 
a  might  be 
iral  Fonte's 
islands  in 


1787.] 


REDISCOVERY    OF    THE    STRAIT    OF    FUCA. 


171 


question  were  supposed  to  be  the  Archipelago  of  St.  Lazarus, 
through  which  the  admiral  was  said  to  have  sailed  two  hundred  and 
sixty  leagues  before  reaching  the  continent ;  and  the  commanders 
of  exploring  vessels,  sent  from  Europe  and  America  to  the  North 
Pacific,  for  some  years  after,  were  generally  directed  to  seek,  near 
the  53d  parallel,  for  the  mouth  of  the  river  which  he  was  reported 
to  have  ascended,  into  a  lake  communicating  with  the  Atlantic. 

The  name  of  the  old  Greek  pilot,  Juan  de  Fuca,  was  also,  about 
the  same  time,  rescued  from  oblivion,  by  the  discovery,  or  redis- 
covery, of  a  "  broad  arm  of  the  sea,"  stretching  eastwardly  from 
the  Pacific,  almost  exactly  in  the  position  of  the  southern  entrance 
of  the  strait,  through  which  he  declared  that  he  had  sailed  from 
the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  in  1592.  This  discovery  was  eflfected  in 
1787  by  Captain  Berkeley,  an  Englishman  commanding  a  ship  called 
the  Imperial  Eagle,  which  had  sailed  from  Ostend  in  the  preceding 
year,  under  the  flag  of  the  Austrian  East  India  Company.  The 
passage  thus  found  was  situated  immediately  north  of  Cape  Flattery, 
to  the  coast  south  of  which  point  Cook  had  confined  his  search  for 
it  in  1778  ;  and  it  opened  to  the  ocean  between  the  48th  and  49th 
parallels,  instead  of  between  the  47th  and  43th,  as  stated  in  the 
account  of  the  voyage  of  Fuca.  Berkeley  did  not  attempt  to  ex- 
plore the  passage,  but,  sailing  along  the  coast  south  of  Cape  Flattery, 
which  had  not  been  seen  by  the  people  of  any  civilized  nation  since 
Cook's  voyage,  he  sent  a  boat  ashore  with  some  men,  who  were 
murdered  by  the  savages,  in  the  same  manner,  and  almost  at  the 
same  spot,  where  the  Spaniards  of  Bodega's  crew  were  massacred 
in  1775.  In  commemoration  of  this  melancholy  event,  the  name 
of  Destruction  Island  was  given  to  the  small  point  of  land  near  the 
continent,  in  the  latitude  of  47  degrees  35  minutes,  which  had, 
for  the  like  reason,  been  called  by  the  Spaniards  Isla  de  Dolores. 
Berkeley,  on  his  arrival  at  Canton,  in  November  following,  commu- 
nicated the  account  of  his  rediscovery  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca  to 
Meares,  as  expressly  stated  by  the  latter,  in  the  Dissertation  prefixed 
to  the  narrative  of  his  voyages  in  the  Pacific,  published  in  1790 ; 
though,  in  the  narrative  itself,  Meares  unequivocally  claims  as  his 
own  the  whole  merit  of  finding  the  passage. 

At  the  time  when  Berkeley  made  this  communication,  Meares 
was  engaged  in  preparations  for  a  trading  expedition  to  the  north- 
west coasts  of  America,  of  which  a  particular  notice  will  be  here 
presented ;  as  the  circumstances  connected  with  it  led  to  the  first 


I 


iffl;' 


■  ih 


i^ 


-*v! 


r 
■I'V' 


* 


w. 


1     i 


'  1  i      :    • 


ml 


:i 


...■11 


Hi 


J  ;l 


t 


172 


SECOND    VOYAGE    OF    MEARES. 


[1788 


dispute,  and  the  first  treaty,  between  civilized  nations,  relative  to 
that  part  of  the  world. 

For  the  expedition  in  question,  two  vessels  were  fitted  out  at  the 
Portuguese  port  of  Macao,  near  Canton,  in  China,  from  which,  as 
already  mentioned,  several  voyages  had  been  previously  made  to 
the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  in  search  of  furs.  They  were 
both  placed  under  the  direction  of  John  Mearcs,  a  lieutenant  in  the 
British  navy,  on  half  pay,  who  sailed  in  the  ship  Felice  as  super- 
cargo ;  the  other  vessel,  the  brig  Iphigenia,  also  carried  a  British 
subject,  William  Douglas,  in  the  same  capacity :  both  vessels  were, 
however,  commanded,  ostensibly  at  least,  by  Portuguese  captains ; 
they  were  both  furnished  with  passports,  and  other  papers,  in  the 
Portuguese  language,  granted  by  the  Portuguese  authorities  of 
Macao,  and  showing  them  to  be  the  property  of  Juan  Cavallo,  a 
Portuguese  merchant  of  that  place  ;  the  instructions  for  the  conduct 
of  the  voyage  were  written  only  in  tlie  Portug»iese  language,*  and 
contained  nothing  whatsoever  calculated  to  afllbrd  the  slightest 
grounds  for  suspicion  that  other  than  Portuguese  subjects  were 
interested  in  the  enterprise ;  finally,  the  vessels  sailed  from  Macao 
on  the  1st  of  January,  1788,  under  the  Portuguese  flag,  and  there 
is  no  suflicient  proof  that  any  other  was  displayed  by  them  during 
the  expedition. 

Notwithstanding  these  evidences  of  ownership  and  national  char- 
acter, which  appear  to  be  complete  and  unequivocal,  Mr.  Meares, 
in  the  Memorial -f  addressed  by  him  to  the  British  government,  in 
May,  1790,  asserts  that  the  Felice  and  Iphigenia,  as  well  as  their 
cargoes,  were  actually  and  bona  fide  British  property,  employed  in 
the  service  of  British  subjects  only ;  that  Cavallo  had  no  concern 
nor  interest  in  them,  his  name  being  merely  used,  with  his  consent, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from  the  governor  of  Macao,  who 

*  Sec  the  Journal  of  Douglas,  the  captain  or  supercargo  of  the  Iphigenia,  attached 
to  the  Memorial  of  Meares,  and  the  quotation  from  it  in  the  ensuing  chapter,  ut 
page  192. 

t  The  London  Annual  Register  for  1790  contains  what  purports  to  be  the  Substance 
of  the  Memorial  of  Lieutenant  Meares,  ^c,  drawn  up  by  Meares  himself,  or  some  oiw 
in  his  interests.  In  this  Substance,  the  word  Portuguese  does  not  occur,  nor  is  any 
thing  mentioned  relative  to  the  apparent  character  of  the  vessels,  which  are,  on  the 
contrary,  directly  asserted  to  have  been  British  in  all  respects,  and  navigated  under 
the  British  flag.  Mearcs's  explanations,  in  his  Memorial,  relative  to  the  arrangements 
with  Cavallo,  are  all  omitted,  the  following  short  paragraph  being  inserted  in  their 
place:  —  "Here  Mr.  Meares,  by  way  of  illustration,  introduces  a  transaction  no 
otherwise  connected  with  his  narrative,  but  as  it  proves  the  merchandise,  &c.,  of 
which  the  British  ships  were  plundered,  to  have  been  British  property."  ' ! !  Such 
are  the  materials  from  which  histories  are  generally  composed. 


^yvi 


I:' 


i.u.'i     5     'I 


1788.) 


INSTULCTIOiNS    TO    MGARES. 


173 


connived  at  the  whole  deception,  permission  to  navigate  under  the  Por- 
tuguese flag,  and  thereby  to  evade  the  excessive  port  charges  demand- 
ed, by  tiie  Chinese  authorities,  from  vessels  of  all  other  European 
nations ;  and  that  Messrs.  Meares  and  Douglas  were  really  the 
commanders  of  the  vessels  in  which  they  respectively  sailed,  instead 
of  the  Portuguese  subjects,  who  figure  as  such  in  all  the  papers. 
Some  of  these  assertions  may  have  been  true ;  yet  the  documents 
annexed  to  the  Memorial  conclusively  prove  that  all  these  deceptive 
appearances  were  kept  up  at  Nootka  Sound,  where  there  were  no 
Chinese  authorities ;  though,  in  the  narrative  of  the  voyage,  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  Meares,  with  the  Memorial  and  documents,  no  hint 
is  given  that  either  of  the  vessels  were,  or  ever  seemed  to  be,  other 
than  British. 

The  instructions,  of  which  an  Enghsh  copy  or  version  —  dated 
China,  December  24th,  1787,  and  signed  The  Merchant  Proprietors 
—  is  appended  to  the  Memorial,  contain  general  directions  for  the 
conduct  of  the  voyage,  but  no  allusion  whatsoever  to  the  acquisition 
of  lands,  the  erection  of  buildings,  or  the  formation  of  settlements  or 
atablishments  of  any  Icind,  in  America  or  elsewhere.  The  Felice 
was  to  go  to  Nootka  Sound,  from  which  she  was  to  make  trips 
northivard  and  southward,  for  the  purposes  of  trade  and  explora- 
tion ;  the  Iphigenia  was  to  sail  first  to  Cook's  River,  and  thence  to 
trade  along  the  coasts,  southward,  to  Nootka,  where  she  was  ex- 
pected to  arrive  in  September :  all  the  furs  collected  were  then  to 
be  placed  in  one  of  the  vessels,  and  brought  to  Macao,  the  other 
vessel  remaining,  until  the  spring,  either  on  the  American  coast  or 
a!  the  Sandwich  Islands.  These  instructions  conclude  with  the 
following  remarkable  order  to  the  commanders  of  the  vessels :  — 
'Should  you,  in  the  course  of  your  voyage,  meet  with  any  Russian, 
English,  or  Spanish  vessels,  you  will  treat  them  with  civility  and 
friendship,  and  allow  them,  if  authorized,  to  examine  your  papers ; 
hut  you  must,  at  the  same  time,  guard  against  surprise.  Should 
they  attempt  to  seize  you,  or  even  to  carry  you  out  of  your  way, 
you  will  prevent  it  by  every  means  in  your  power,  and  repel  force 
by  force.  You  will,  on  your  arrival  in  the  first  port,  protest,  before 
a  proper  officer,  against  such  illegal  procedure,  and  ascertain,  as 
nearly  as  you  can,  the  value  of  your  vessel  and  cargo,  sending  your 
protest,  with  a  full  account  of  the  transaction,  to  us  at  China. 
Should  you,  in  such  a  conflict,  have  the  superiority,  you  will  take 
possession  of  the  vessel  that  attacked  you,  and  bring  both,  with  the 


:i 


■ :  •-:</> 


!  •  ■'  I  , 


:'f 


4  •', 


ill  i  I 


1   r 


^■ly^i  i 


m^ 


i  :         t 


174 


MRAHRS    AliniVKS    AT    NOOTKA. 


[1788. 


officers  and  crew,  to  China,  tliat  they  may  be  condemned  as  legal 
prizes,  and  the  crews  punished  as  pirates." 

The  latter  part  of  these  instructions,  independently  of  numerous 
other  circumstances  connected  with  the  expedition,  is  sufficient, 
alone,  to  show  that  the  owners  of  the  Felice  and  Iphigenia  meant 
to  represent  them  as  Portuguese  vessels.  As  British  vessels,  they 
could  not  legally  navigate  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  being  unpro< 
vided  with  licenses  or  authority  from  the  South  Sea  or  the  East 
India  Company :  if  found  so  doi4ig,  they  would  be  subject  to 
seizure,  and  their  officers  and  crew  to  punishment;  and  it  was, 
doubtless,  in  order  to  evade  such  penalties,  to  which  they  might 
have  been  subjected  by  coming  in  contact  with  the  vessels  of  the 
King  George's  Sound  Company,  that  their  commanders  were 
directed  to  take,  and  bring  to  a  Portuguese  port,  for  trial  before 
Portuguese  courts,  any  English  vessels  which  should  attempt  to 
arrest  them  in  thoir  voyages. 

From  Macao  the  Iphigenia  went  to  Cook's  River,  at  which  place, 
and  others  farther  south-cast,  she  passed  the  summer  in  trading. 
The  Felice  sailed  direct  to  Nootka  Sound,  where  her  crew  imme- 
diately began  the  construction  of  a  small  vessel,  on  the  shore  of 
Friendly  Cove,  near  which  was  situated  the  village  of  Maquinnn, 
the  king  of  the  surrounding  country.  Meares,  being  desirous,  whilst 
this  work  was  in  progress,  to  take  a  voyage  along  the  coast  to  the 
south,  made  arrangements  with  Maquinna,  who,  as  related  in  the 
narrative  of  the  expedition,  "  most  readily  consented  to  grant  us  a 
spot  of  ground  in  his  territory,  whereon  an  house  might  be  built, 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  people  we  intended  to  leave  behind, 
and  also  promised  us  his  assistance  and  protection  for  the  party  who 
were  destined  to  remain  at  Nootka  during  our  absence.  In  returti 
for  this  kindness,  and  to  insure  the  continuance  of  it,  the  chief  was 
presented  with  a  pair  of  pistols,  which  he  had  regarded  with  an  eye 
of  solicitation  ever  since  our  arrival.  Upon  this  spot  a  house,  suf- 
ficiently capacious  to  contain  all  the  party  intended  to  be  left  at 
the  sound,  was  erected  ;  a  strong  breastwork  was  thrown  up  around 
it,  enclosing  a  considerable  area  of  ground,  which,  with  one  piece 
of  cannon,  placed  in  such  a  manner  as  to  command  the  cove  and 
village  of  Nootka,  formed  a  fortification  sufficient  to  secure  the 
party  from  any  intrusion." 

That  this  spot  of  ground  was  granted  by  Maquinna,  and  was  to 
be  occupied  by  Meares,  only  for  temporary  purposes,  is  clear  from 


■I 


1788.] 


MKARK4    AT    TUB    STHAlT    OF    I'UCA. 


173 


the  above  statement ;  and  Mearos  nowhere  in  .lis  narrative  pretends 
that  he  acquired  permanent  possession  of  it,  or  of  any  other  land  in 
America.  On  the  contrary,  he  expressly  says  that,  "  as  a  bribe  to 
secure  Maquinna's  attachment,  he  was  promised  that,  when  wo 
finally  left  the  coast,  he  should  enter  into  full  possession  of  the 
house,  and  all  the  goods  thereunto  belonging."  In  the  Memorial 
addressed  to  his  government,  however,  Meares  declares  that,  '*  im- 
mediately on  his  arrival  at  Nootka  Sound,  he  purchased  from 
Mnquinna,  the  chief  of  the  district  surrounding  that  place,  a  spot 
of  ground,  whereon  he  built  an  house,  for  his  occasional  residence, 
ns  well  as  for  the  more  convenient  pursuit  of  his  trade  among  the 
rintives,  and  hoisted  British  colors  thereon."  Of  this  asserted 
purchase  of  land  and  erection  of  buildings  at  Nootka,  no  evidence 
or  mention  whatsoever  is  to  be  found  among  the  documents  sub- 
mitted with  the  Memorial  to  the  British  ministry,  except  in  the 
deposition  of  William  Graham,  of  Grub  Street,  a  seaman  of  the 
Felice,  taken  in  London  after  the  date  of  the  Memorial. 

Having  completed  these  arrangements,  Meares  sailed  from  Nootka 
in  the  Felice,  leaving  a  part  of  his  crew  employed  in  l)uilding  the 
small  vessel,  and  proceeded  to  the  entrance  of  the  passage  supposed 
to  be  the  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  which,  as  he  expressly  states  in 
the  Dissertation  prefixed  to  his  narrative,  had  been  discovered  in 
the  |)receding  year  by  Berkeley.  The  following  extract  from  his 
narrative  will  serve  still  further  to  show  what  value  is  to  be  placed 
on  his  testimony  in  matters  in  which  his  own  reputation  or  interests 
are  involved :  — 

"  June  '29t\\.  At  noon  the  latitude  was  48  degrees  39  minutes 
north,  at  which  time  we  had  a  complete  view  of  an  inlet,  whose 
entrance  appeared  very  extensive,  bearing  east-south-east,  distant 
about  six  leagues.  We  endeavored  to  keep  up  with  the  shore  as 
much  as  possible,  in  order  to  have  a  perfect  view  of  the  land.  This 
was  an  object  of  particular  anxiety,  as  the  part  of  the  coast  along 
which  we  were  now  sailing  had  not  been  seen  by  Captain  Cook,  and 
we  knew  no  other  navigator,  said  to  have  been  this  way,  except 
Maurtlle ;  and  his  chart,  which  we  now  had  on  board,  convinced 
us  that  he  had  either  never  seen  this  part  of  the  coast,  or  that  he 
had  purposely  misrepresented  it.  By  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
we  arrived  at  the  entrance  of  the  great  inlet,  which  appeared  to  be 
twelve  or  fourteen  leagues  broad.  From  the  mast  head,  it  was 
observed  to  stretch  to  the  east  by  the  north,  and  a  clear  and 
unbounded  horizon  was  seen,  in  this  direction,  as  far  as  the  eye 


-t 


i  :i»  i  ' 


'i|  i 


1  I 


M    !■. 


!■  ■■!; 


;^' 


[■■  ■ , 


176 


MKAIIK  ,    8I:KKM    rOil   TIIR    QIIRAT    KIVEIl. 


[1788. 


'I   , 


f  t. 


v\? 


5'   »• 


im 


l'"-,lli       ...1 


could  rench.  Tlio  strongest  curiosity  impelled  us  to  enter  thJH 
strait,  which  we  shall  call  by  the  name  of  its  original  discoverer, 
John  de  Fuca." 

To  examine  the  passage,  — of  which  he  thus  claims  the  discovery, 
after  having  distinctly  assigned  the  merit  of  it  to  another,  —  Mcares 
sent  his  mate,  DufFin,  with  a  party  of  men,  in  a  boat.  In  a  few 
days  the  boat  returned,  with  several  of  her  crew  disabled  hy 
wounds  received  in  a  conllict  with  the  natives  on  the  northern 
shore.  "  She  had  sailed,"  writes  Meorcs,  "  near  thirty  leagues  up 
the  strait ;  and,  at  that  distance  from  the  sea,  it  was  fifteen  leogiics 
broad,  with  a  clear  horizon  stretching  to  the  east  for  fifteen  leaf,'iits 
more."  Yet,  from  Dufiin's  journal,  which  is  given  entire  in  Mr. 
Meares's  work,  it  seems  that  the  boat  did  not  advance  ten  miles 
within  the  strait ;  and  we  now  know  that  the  width  of  the  passage 
nowhere,  within  thirty  leagues  of  its  mouth,  exceeds  five  leagues. 

From  the  entrance  of  this  passage,  which  has  ever  since  been 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  Strait  of  Fuca,  Meares  sailed  along 
the  shore  of  the  continent,  towards  the  south.  His  object  was  to 
examine  the  opening  in  the  coast,  laid  down  on  Spanish  charts  in 
his  possession,  near  the  46th  degree  of  latitude,  under  the  name 
Jiio  (h  San  Roquc,  or  River  of  Saint  Roc,  which  had  been  first 
observed  by  Ileceta,  on  the  16th  of  August,  177.'5,  as  mentioned  in 
the  account  of  that  voyage.*  Proceeding  in  this  course,  he,  on  the 
5th  of  July,  remarked  a  headland,  in  the  latitude  of  46  degrees 
47  miimtes,  which  he  named  Cajjc  Shoalwater ;  on  the  following 
day,  he  writes  in  his  journal, — 

"  At  half  past  ten,  being  within  three  leagues  of  Cape  Shoalwater, 
we  had  a  perfect  view  of  it ;  and,  with  the  glasses,  we  traced  tiit- 
line  of  coast  to  the  southward,  which  presented  no  ofMMiing  that 
promised  any  thing  like  an  harbor.  An  high,  bluflf  promontory 
bore  ofl"  us  south-east,  at  the  distance  of  only  four  leagues,  for 
which  we  steered  to  double,  with  the  hope  that  between  it  and 
Cape  Shoalwater  we  should  find  some  sort  of  harbor.  We  now 
discovered  distant  land  beyond  this  promontory,  and  we  pleased 
ourselves  with  the  expectation  of  its  being  Cape  St.  Roc  t)f  the 
Spaniards,  near  which  they  are  said  to  have  found  a  good  port. 
By  half  past  eleven,  we  doubled  this  cape,  at  the  distance  of  three 
miles,  having  a  clear  and  perfect  view  of  the  shore  in  every  part, 
on  which  we  did  not  discern  a  living  creature,  or  the  least  trace  of 
habitable  life.     A  prodigious  easterly  swell  rolled  on  the  shore,  and 

•  Page  liiO. 


1788.] 

the  ecu 
n  hard 
large  b 
proinisi 
couragi 
of  the 
pied  til 
dircctio 
seven  I 
ahead, 
across  ti 
the  oppi 
discover 
to  the  p 
By  an  ii 
degrees 
degrees 

of  St.  n 

Maurelle 
informati 
side  of  t 
and,  beir 
shelter  f( 
course  w 
the  latiti 
Lookout, 
Falcon, 
turned  t( 
having, 
unfavoral 
The  la 
somewha 
with  satij 
that  "  no 
Spanish 
names  of 
the  Ame 
where  the 
the  Spani 
missionen 


1788.] 


MEAREB   DOES    NOT   FIND   THE    GREAT    RIVER. 


177 


the  Boundings  gradually  decreased  from  forty  to  sixteen  fathoms,  over 
n  hard,  sandy  bottotii.  After  \vc  had  rounded  the  promontory,  a 
large  bay,  as  we  had  imagined,  opened  to  our  view,  that  bore  a  very 
promising  appearance,  and  into  which  wo  steered  with  every  en- 
couraging ex|)ectation.  The  high  land  that  formed  the  boundaries 
of  the  bay  was  at  a  great  distance,  and  a  flat,  level  country  occu- 
pied the  intervening  space ;  the  bay  itself  took  rather  a  westerly 
direction.  As  we  steered  in,  the  water  shoaled  to  nine,  eight,  and 
seven  fathoms,  when  breakers  were  seen  from  the  deck,  right 
ahead,  and,  from  the  mast  head,  they  were  observed  to  extend 
across  the  bay  ;  we  therefore  hauled  out,  and  directed  our  course  to 
the  opposite  shore,  to  sec  if  there  was  any  channel,  or  if  we  could 
discover  any  port.  The  name  of  Cape  Disappointment  was  given 
to  the  promontory,  and  the  bay  obtained  the  title  of  Deception  Dnij. 
By  an  indit!erent  meridian  observation,  it  lies  in  the  latitude  of  46 
de^'rees  10  minutes  north,  and  in  the  computed  longitude  of  235 
degrees  .34  minutes  east. 

"  IVc  can  now  with  safety  assert  that  there  is  no  such  river  as  that 
of  St.  Roc  exists,  as  laid  down  in  the  Spanish  charts.  To  those  of 
Maurelle  we  made  continual  reference,  but  without  deriving  any 
information  or  assistance  from  them.  We  now  reached  the  opposite 
side  of  the  bay,  where  disappointment  continued  to  accompany  us ; 
and,  being  almost  certain  that  there  we  should  obtain  no  place  of 
shelter  for  the  ship,  we  bore  up  for  a  distant  headland,  keeping  our 
course  within  two  miles  of  the  shore."  This  distant  headhmd,  in 
the  latitude  of  45  degrees  37  minutes,  named  by  Meares  Cape 
Lookout,  and  probably  the  same  called  by  the  Spaniards  Cape 
Falcon,  was  the  southernmost  point  seen  by  him;  thence  he  re- 
turned to  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  without  again  observing  the  land, 
having,  as  he  conceived,  "  traced  every  part  of  the  coast,  which 
unfavorable  weather  had  prevented  Captain  Cook  from  approaching." 

The  language  of  Mr.  Meares  in  the  preceding  extracts,  though 
somewhat  ungrnmmatical,  is  yet  clear  and  explicit.  He  records 
with  satisfaction  his  conviction,  founded  on  his  own  observations, 
that  "  no  such  river  as  that  of  St.  Roc  exists,  as  laid  down  in  the 
Spanish  charts ; "  in  token  of  which  conviction,  he  assigns  the 
names  of  Deception  Bay  and  Cape  Disappointment  to  the  places  on 
the  American  coast,  near  the  latitude  of  46  degrees  10  minutes, 
where  the  mouth  of  the  river  should  have  been  found,  according  to 
the  Spanish  charts.  Yet,  strange  though  it  may  appear,  the  com- 
missioners, appointed  by  the  British  government,  in  1826,  to  treat 
23 


iii 


\  ■ 


I 


i     I, 

k 


-.  1 


178 


MEARGS   RETURNS   TO    CHINA. 


[1788. 


4 


':! 


it 


mmm 


m 


with  the  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  at  London,  on  the 
subject  of  the  claims  of  the  respective  parties  to  territories  on  the 
north-west  side  of  America,  insisted  that  Meares,  on  this  occasion, 
discovered  the  great  River  Columbia,  which  actually  enters  the 
Pacific  at  Deception  Bay,  and  cited,  in  proof  of  their  assertion,  the 
very  parts  of  his  narrative  above  extracted.* 

On  his  way  back  to  Nootka,  Meares  visited  the  two  large  bays, 
called  by  the  natives  Clyoquot  and  Nittinat,  and  by  himself  Port 
Cox  and  Port  Effingham,  situated  a  little  north-west  of  the  entrance 
of  Fuca's  Strait,  where,  he  declares  in  his  Memorial  to  Parliament, 
"  he  obtained  from  Wicanish,  the  chief  of  the  surrounding  districts, 
in  consequence  of  considerable  presents,  the  promise  of  a  free  and 
exclusive  trade  with  the  natives  of  the  district,  as  also  permission 
to  build  any  storehouses  or  other  edifices  which  he  might  judge 
necessary ;  and  he  also  acquired  the  same  privileges  of  exclu- 
sive trade  from  Tatooche,  the  chief  of  the  country  bordering  upon 
the  Strait  of  Fuca,  and  purchased  from  him  a  tract  of  land  within 
the  said  strait,  which  one  of  his  ofllicers  took  possession  of,  in  the 
king's  name,  calling  the  same  Tatooche,  in  honor  of  the  chief." 
These  purchases  and  cessions  of  territory  are  not,  however,  in  any 
manner  noticed,  either  in  the  documents  annexed  to  the  Memorial, 
or  in  the  narrative  of  the  voyage,  which  is  most  tediously  minute 
as  to  the  circumstances  of  Mr.  Meares's  interviews  with  those  chiefs. 

At  the  end  of  July,  Meares  returned  to  Nootka  Sound,  where 
the  Iphigenia  soon  after  arrived  from  the  northern  coasts,  laden  with 
furs.  The  small  vessel,  which  had  been  begun  at  Friendly  Cove, 
was  then  launched,  and  received  the  name  of  the  North- West 
America ;  and  Meares,  considering  the  season  as  not  too  far  ad- 
vanced for  a  voyage  across  the  Pacific,  transferred  to  the  Felice 
all  the  furs  which  had  been  collected,  and  sailed  in  her,  on  the 
28th  of  September,  for  China,  leaving  directions  that  the  Iphigenia 
and  the  North-West  America  should  proceed  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands  for  the  winter,  and  return  in  the  following  spring  to  Nootka, 
where  he  would  rejoin  them. 

Before  the  departure  of  Meares  from  Nootka,  two  other  vessels 
entered  the  sound,  whose  voyages  merit  particular  attention. 

Immediately  after  the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  the  citizens  of  that  republic  resumed  the 


*  See  British  statement,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in  the  Utter  part  of 
this  volume,  letter  H. 


was  comi 


If: 


!   ' 


V  .¥ 


1787.] 


AMERICANS    ENGAGE    IN   TRADE    IN    THE    PACIFIC. 


179 


on  the 

on  the 

ceasion, 

ters  the 

Hon,  the 


er  vessels 
m. 

06  of  the 
umcd  the 

Ltter  part  of 


whale  and  seal  fishery  around  Cape  Horn,  which  they  had  carried 
on  before  the  revolution,  and  also  engaged  in  the  direct  trade  with 
India  and  China.  In  the  latter  countries,  however,  they  labored 
under  great  disadvantages,  from  the  inferiority  in  value  of  the 
articles  carried  thither  to  those  brought  back  by  them,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  they  were  obliged  to  take  out  large  quantities  of 
specie,  in  order  to  obtain  full  homeward  cai^oes.  With  the  view 
of  obviating  this  inequality,  some  merchants  of  Boston,  in  1787, 
formed  an  association  for  the  purpose  of  combining  the  fur  trade 
of  the  Nokth  Pacific  with  the  China  trade,  as  attempted  by  the 
King  George's  Sound  Company  of  London ;  and  in  such  an  enter- 
prise they  certainly  had  reason  to  anticipate  success,  as,  with 
industry  and  nautical  skill  unsurpassed  by  any  other  nation,  the 
Americans  were  free  from  the  restrictions  imposed  on  British 
subjects  by  the  charters  of  the  South  Sea  and  East  India  Com- 
panies.* 

In  prosecution  of  this  scheme,  the  ship  Columbia,  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty  tons,  and  the  sloop  Washington,  of  ninety  tons,  were 
fitted  out  at  Boston  in  the  summer  of  1787,  and  laden  with  blan- 
kets, knives,  iron  bars,  copper  pans,  and  other  articles  proper  for  the 
trade  with  the  Indians  on  the  north-west  coasts.  The  Columbia 
was  commanded  by  John  Kendrick,  to  whom  was  intrusted  the 

*  The  first  American  citizens  who  engaged  in  the  whaling  and  scaling  business 
around  Cape  Horn,  after  the  peace  of  1783,  were  the  Nantucket  men,  as  will  be  here- 
after more  particularly  stated. 

The  first  American  vessel  which  entered  the  port  of  Canton  was  the  ship  Empress 
of  China,  from  New  York,  commanded  by  Daniel  Parker,  with  Samuel  Shaw  as 
supercargo:  she  arrived  in  China  in  tlie  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1784,  and 
returned  to  New  York  in  May  of  the  following  year.  Mr.  Shaw  was  appointed 
consul  of  the  United  States  at  Canton  in  January,  17!I6;  and,  on  the  Slst  of  Decem- 
ber of  the  sane  year,  he  addressed  to  his  government,  from  Canton,  an  interesting 
memoir  on  the  state  of  commerce  at  that  place,  which  still  remains,  with  many  other 
communications  from  him,  unpublished,  in  the  archives  of  the  Department  of  State  at 
Washington.  In  1787,  not  less  than  five  American  vessels  were  employed  in  the 
trade  with  China ;  among  them  were  the  Canton,  under  Captain  Thomas  Truxton, 
who  aflerwards  distinguished  himself  in  the  naval  service  of  his  country,  and  the  old 
frigate  Alliance,  so  celebrated  during  the  war  of  the  revolution,  which  had  been  sold 
by  order  of  Congress,  and  fitted  out  as  a  trading  vessel,  under  the  command  of  John 
Reed.  The  Alliance  entered  Canton  on  the  21Uh  of  December,  1787 ;  and  her  arrival 
at  that  season  caused  much  astonishment,  as  it  had  been  previously  considered  impos- 
sible for  a  vessel  to  sail  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  China  between  October  and 
April,  on  account  of  the  violence  of  the  winds,  blowing  constantly,  during  that 
period,  from  the  north-east.  Reed,  however,  had  steered  eastward  from  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  to  the  southern  extremity  of  Van  Dieman's  Land,  around  the  east  coasts 
of  which  island,  and  of  New  Holland,  he  sailed  into  the  China  Sea ;  and  the  course 
thui  pointed  out  by  him  has  been  since  often  token,  especially  by  American  vcs.els.. 


^ 


I  I 


'li'' 

■    'I 


■:|  i 


■;:S 


:■ ;  1 


;     ■    '■ . 


-M 


180 


VOYAGES    OF    THE    COLUSIBIA    AND    WASHINGTON. 


[1788. 


direction  of  the  expedition ;  and  her  mate  was  Joseph  Ingraham, 
whose  name  will  often  appenr  in  the  following  pages.  The 
master  of  the  Washington  was  Robert  Gray.  They  were  provided 
with  sea  letters  issued  by  the  federal  government,  agreeably  to  a 
resolution  of  Congress,  and  vvith  passports  from  the  state  of  Massa- 
chusetts ;  and  they  received  letters  from  the  Spanish  minister 
plenipotentiary  in  the  United  States,  recommending  them  to  the 
attention  of  the  authorities  of  his  nation  on  the  Pacific  coasts. 
They,  moreover,  carried  out,  for  distribution  at  such  places  as  they 
might  visit,  a  number  of  small  copper  coins,  then  recently  issued 
by  the  state  of  Massachusetts,*  and  likewise  medals  of  copper, 
struck  expressly  for  the  purpose,  of  one  of  which  a  representation  is 
here  given. 


The  two  vessels  sailed  together  from  Boston  on  the  30th  of 
September,  1787  :  thence  they  proceeded  to  the  Cape  Verd  Islands, 
and  thence  to  the  Falkland  Islands,  in  each  of  which  places  they 
procured  refreshments ;  and,  in  January,  1788,  they  doubled  Cape 
Horn,  immediately  after  which  they  were  separated  during  a  violent 
gale.  The  Washington,  continuing  her  course  through  the  Pacific, 
made  the  north-west  coast  in  August,  1788,  near  the  46th  degree 
of  latitude,  where  she  was  in  danger  of  destruction,  having  grounded 
while  attempting  to  enter  an  opening,  which  was,  most  probably, 
the  mouth  of  the  great  river  afterwards  named  by  Gray  the 
Columbia.  She  was  also  attacked  there  by  the  savages,  who  killed 
one  of  her  men,  and  wounded  the  mate  ;  but  she  escaped  without 
further  injury,  and,  on   the   17th  of  September,  reached  Nootka 

*  Alexander  Mackenzie,  in  July,  1793,  found,  in  the  possession  of  a  native  of  the 
country  cast  of  the  Slrait  of  Fuca,  a  "  halfpenny  of  the  state  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
coined  in  1787,"  which  was  doubtless  one  of  those  taken  out  by  Kendrick  and 
Gray. 


..'i  1 


1788.] 


VOYAGES    OF    THE    COLUMBIA    AND    WASHINGTON. 


181 


Sound,  where  the  Felice  and  Iphigenia  were  lying,  as  already 
mentioned.*  The  Columbia  did  not  enter  the  sound  until  some 
days  afterwards.  She  had  been  seriously  injured  in  the  storm 
wliich  separated  her  from  her  consort ;  and  Kendrick  was  obliged, 
in  consequence,  to  put  into  the  harbor  of  the  Island  of  Juan  Fer- 
nandez, where  he  was  received  with  great  kindness,  and  aided 
in  refitting  his  vessel,  by  Don  Bias  Gonzales,  the  commandant  of 
the  Spanish  garrison.  The  repairs  having  been  completed,  the 
Columbia  continued  her  voyage,  and  arrived  at  Nootka,  which 
had  been  selected  as  the  place  of  rendezvous,  without  further 
accident,  in  October. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  Columbia  at  Nootka,  the  Iphigenia 
and  North- West  America  took  their  departure  for  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  where  they  remained  until  the  spring  of  1789.  The  two 
American  vessels  spent  the  winter  in  the  sound,  where  the  Columbia 
also  lay  during  the  whole  of  the  following  summer,  whilst  the 
important  events  related  in  the  next  chapter  were  in  progress. 


ii 


■f 


*  Moarps,  in  his  narrative,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  arrival  of  the 
Washington  at  Nootka  Sound  :  — 

"  .SV/jtemfter  17th,  17d8.  —  A  sail  was  seen  in  the  offing.  The  long-boat  was  imine- 
(liati'ly  sent  to  her  assistance,  which,  instead  of  the  British  vessel  we  expected, 
conveyed  into  the  sound  a  sloop  named  the  Washington,  from  Boston,  in  New 
Enirland,  of  ahont  one  hundred  tons'  burthen.  Mr.  Gray,  the  master,  informed  us 
that  he  had  sailed,  in  company  with  his  consort,  the  Columbia,  a  ship  of  three  hundred 
tuns,  in  the  month  of  August,  17H7,  being  equipped,  under  the  patronage  of  Congress, 
tn  t-xamine  the  coast  of  America,  and  to  open  a  fur  trade  between  New  England  and 
this  part  of  the  American  continent,  in  order  to  provide  funds  for  their  China  ships, 
to  enable  them  to  return  home  teas  and  China  goods.  The  vessels  were  separated  in 
a  heavy  gale  of  wind,  in  the  latitude  of  '>!)  south,  and  had  not  seen  each  other  since 
the  period  of  their  separation ;  but,  as  King  George's  Sound  was  the  place  of  ren- 
dezvous appointed  for  them,  the  Columbia,  if  she  was  safe,  was  every  day  expected 
lo  join  her  consort  at  Nootka.  Mr.  Gray  infornjed  nie  that  he  had  put  into  an  harbor 
on  tile  coast  of  New  Albion,  wliere  he  got  on  shore,  and  was  in  danger  of  being  lost 
on  the  bar;  he  was  also  attacked  by  the  natives,  had  one  man  killed,  and  one  of  his 
oliieers  wounded,  and  tiionght  himself  fortunate  in  having  been  able  to  make  his 
escape.  This  harbor  could  only  admit  vessels  of  small  size,  and  must  lie  somewhere 
near  the  cape  to  which  we  had  given  the  name  of  Cape  Lookout." 

That  this  harhor  was  tiie  mouth  of  the  ffreat  river  since  caHcd  the  Colvmhia,  is  most 
probal)le  from  its  situation,  and  because  tliere  is  no  evidence  or  reason  to  suppose  that 
Gray  visited  that  pnrt  of  the  coast  on  any  other  occasion  prior  to  his  meeting  with 
Vancouver,  on  the  2i)th  of  April,  17U2,  as  will  be  related  in  tlie  eleventh  chapter. 


II' 


' ;    ! 


.1:- 


.1 ' 


^!'i, 


:i 


'*|j 


m 


!f'i 


182 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


I  .  :!  f-i 


1*1' 1    ■ 


I' 


l-i 


Mi 


1788  AND  1789. 


Uneasiness  of  the  Spanish  Government  at  the  Proceedings  of  the  Fur  Traders  in  the 
North  Pacific  —  Voyage  of  Observation  by  Martinez  and  Haro  to  the  Russian 
American  Settlements  —  Remonstrances  of  the  Court  of  Madrid  to  that  of  St. 
Petersburg,  against  the  alleged  Encroachments  of  the  latter  Power  —  Martinez 
and  Haro  sent  by  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  to  take  Possession  of  Nootka  Sound  — 
Seizure  of  British  and  other  Vessels  at  Nootka  by  Martinez  —  Captain  Gray,  in 
the  Washington,  explores  the  East  Coast  of  Queen  Charlotte's  Island,  and  en- 
ters the  Strait  of  Fuca  —  Return  of  the  Columbia  to  the  United  States. 


Having,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  presented  a  sketch  of  the  geo- 
graphical  discoveries  effected  on  the  north-west  coasts  of  America, 
in  the  interval  between  the  time  of  Cook's  last  voyage  and  the  year 
1790,  we  now  proceed  to  relate  the  important  events  of  a  political 
nature,  which  occurred  on  those  coasts  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
same  period.  These  events  have  been  variously  represented  —  or 
rather  misrepresented  —  by  the  historians  to  whom  reference  is  usu- 
ally made  for  information  respecting  them  ;  ''*'  and  ample  proofs  will 
be  here  offered,  that  the  most  essential  circumstances  have  been  ex- 
hibited in  false  forms,  and  under  false  colors,  either  designedly,  or 
from  indifference  and  want  of  research  on  the  part  of  the  authors. 

The  movements  of  the  fur  traders  in  the  North  Pacific  were, 
from  the  beginning,  regarded  with  dissatisfaction  and  mistrust  by  the 
court  of  Madrid.  It  was  at  first  proposed  to  counteract  them  by 
monopolizing  that  branch  of  commerce ;  for  which  object  an  agent 
was  despatched  to  California,  in  1786,  with  orders  to  collect  all  the 

*  Namely,  the  histories  of  England,  by  Bissett,  Miller,  Belsham,  (in  which  latter 
the  accounts  are  more  fair  and  more  nearly  correct  than  in  any  other,)  Hughes,  Wade, 
and  the  Pictorial  History  of  England  —  Schoell's  Histoire  des  Traites  de  Paix  —  Brcn- 
ton's  Naval  History  of  Great  Britain,  last  edition  —  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of 
Galiano  and  Valdes  —  History  of  Maritime  and  Inland  Discovery,  by  T.  D.  Cooley  — 
Gifford's  Life  of  William  Pitt,  &c.  In  the  most  recent  ot  these  works,  namely,  the 
Pictorial  History  of  England,  the  account  is  farthest  from  the  truth;  the  author  has 
evidently  not  consulted  any  original  evidence  on  the  subject,  except,  possibly,  the 
Memorial  of  Meares,  or  Uie  abstract  of  that  paper  in  Uie  Annual  Register. 


M:  ' 


I'  1 


nee.] 


APPREHENSIONS    OF    THE    SPANISH    GOVERNMENT. 


183 


adera  in  the 
Lhe  Russian 
that  of  St. 
—  Martinez 
ia  Sound  — 
lin  Gray,  in 
ind,  and  en- 
es. 


)f  the  geo- 
f  America, 
id  the  year 
a  political 
)art  of  the 
jnted  —  or 
ice  is  usu- 
proofs  will 
e  been  ex- 
gnedly,  or 
e  authors, 
cific  were, 
rust  by  the 
;t  them  by 
t  an  agent 
lect  all  the 


I  which  latter 

]ighe8,  Wade, 

Paix  — Bren- 

le  Journal  of 

|D.  Cooley  — 

.  namely,  the 

he  author  has 

I  possibly,  the 

egister. 


sea  otter  skins '"'  obtainable  there,  and  carry  them  for  sale  to  Canton : 
but  the  enterprise  proved  unsuccessful,  as  the  agent  could  only  ob- 
tain a  small  number  of  furs,  of  inferior  quality,  the  produce  of  the 
sale  of  which  in  China  did  not  cover  the  expenses  of  their  trans- 
portation. 

Considerable  uneasiness  was  also  created  at  Madrid,  by  the  en- 
deavors of  the  British  government  to  advance  the  whale  and  seal 
fishery  in  the  seas  surrounding  the  southern  extremity  of  America. 
A  number  of  experienced  whalers,  especially  from  Nantucket,  had 
been  induced,  immediately  after  the  peace  of  1783,  to  engage  in 
this  business,  under  the  British  flag;  and  high  premiums  were 
offered  by  act  of  Parliament,  in  1786,  to  encourage  perseverance  in 
the  pursuit.  As  British  vessels  and  subjects  would  thus  necessa- 
rily frequent  the  unoccupied  coasts  of  Patagonia  and  the  adjacent 
islands,  it  was  apprehended,  by  the  Spanish  government,  that  estab- 
lishments might  be  formed  in  those  regions,  for  their  protection ; 
the  natural  consequence  of  which  would  be,  the  introduction  of 
foreign  merchandise,  and  of  opinions  contrary  to  the  interests  of 
Spain,  into  the  contiguous  provinces.  In  order  to  provide  against 
these  evils,  the  Spaniards  increased  their  garrison  at  Port  Soledad, 
in  the  Falkland  Islands,  as  well  as  their  naval  force  in  that  quarter ; 
and  an  attempt  was  made,  under  the  patronage  of  their  government, 
to  organize  a  company  for  the  whale  and  seal  fishery  in  the  South- 
ern Ocean,  which  proved  entirely  abortive. 

It  was  from  Russia,  however,  that  the  Spanish  government  an- 
ticipated the  greatest  danger  to  its  dominions  on  the  Pacific  side  of 
America.  Of  the  commerce  and  establishments  of  that  nation  on 
the  northernmost  coasts  of  the  Pacific,  enough  had  been  learned 
from  the  narrative  of  Cook's  expedition,  and  other  works  then  re- 
cently published,  to  show  their  advancement,  and  the  enterprise  of 
those  by  whom  they  were  conducted,  as  well  as  the  determination 
of  the  Russian  government  to  maintain  and  encourage  them ;  and 
La  Perouse,  during  the  stay  of  his  ships  at  Conception,  in  Chili,  in 
1786,  promised,  at  the  particular  request  of  the  captain-general,  to 
communicate  confidentially  to  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  the  results  of 
the  observations  on  those  subjects  which  he  might  make  in  Kamt- 
chatka  and  the  islands  and  coasts  of  America  adjacent.  La  Pe- 
rouse, however,  did  not  return  to  America  after  his  visit  to  Kamt- 
chatka,  nor  was  any  information  on  the  points  in  question  received 
from  him  by  the  Spanish  authorities ;  and  the  viceroy  of  Mexico, 

•  La  Perouse  —  Portlock. 


,1 


184 


APPREHENSIONS    OF    THE    SPANISH    GOVERNMENT. 


[1787. 


*i  •>' 


liaving  waited  in  vain  for  tfie  promised  intelligence  until  the  end  of 

1787,  resolved  to  despatch  vessels  to  the  North  Pacific,  in  order  to 
r  ortain  the  truth  with  regard  to  the  trade  and  settlements  of  the 
Russians  and  other  foreign  nations  on  the  coasts  of  that  division  of 
the  ocean. " 

Before  relating  the  particulars  of  the  expedition  made  for  that 
purpose,  a  circumstance  may  be  mentioned,  which  serves  to  show 
the  state  of  feeling  of  the  Spanish  government  at  the  period  in 
question,  with  regard  to  the  proceedings  of  foreigners  in  the  Pacific, 
and  the  extent  of  the  measures  which  it  was  ready  to  adopt  in  order 
to  exclude  them  from  that  ocean.  It  has  been  said,  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  that  the  ship  Columbia  having  received  some  damage 
on  her  way  from  Boston  to  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  in  May, 

1788,  entered  a  harbor  in  the  Island  of  Juan  Fernandez,  where  as- 
sistance was  afforded  in  refitting  her  by  the  Spanish  commandant 
Don  Bias  Gonzales  and  his  garrison.  After  her  departure,  the 
commandant  communicated  the  circumstances,  by  a  despatch,  to 
his  immediate  superior,  the  captain-general  of  Chili,  who  thereupon 
recalled  Gonzales  from  the  island,  and  placed  him  in  arrest,  address- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  a  report  on  the  subject,  with  a  request  for 
instructions,  to  the  viceroy  of  Peru.  The  viceroy,  after  consulting 
with  his  official  legal  adviser,  replied  to  the  captain-general  at  length 
on  the  subject,  and  expressed  his  surprise  and  displeasure  at  the  mis- 
conduct of  the  commandant  of  Juan  Fernandez,  in  allowing  the 
strange  ship  to  leave  the  harbor,  instead  of  seizing  her  and  her  crew ; 
as  he  should  have  known  that,  by  the  royal  ordinance  of  November, 
169*2,  every  foreign  vessel  found  in  those  seas,  without  a  license 
from  the  court  of  Spain,  was  to  be  treated  as  an  enemy,  even  though 
belonging  to  a  friend  or  ally  of  the  king,  seeing  that  no  other  nation 
had,  or  ought  to  have,  any  territories,  to  reach  which  its  vessels 
should  pass  around  Cape  Horn  or  through  Magellan's  Straits.  In 
so  serious  a  light  did  the  viceroy  regard  the  matter,  that  a  ship  was 
sent  from  Callao  to  track  or  intercept  the  Columbia ;  the  authori- 
ties on  the  coasts  of  Peru  and  Chili  were  specially  enjoined  to  be 
vigilant,  and,  in  case  any  foreign  vessel  siiould  appear  in  the  vicini- 
ty, to  seize  her ;  and  the  whole  affair  was  made  known  by  a  de- 
spatch to  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  in  order  that  similar  precautions 
might  be  adopted  on  his  part.  The  unfortunate  commandant  Gon- 
zales was  cashiered  for  his  remissness ;  and  he  subsequently  ad- 
dressed a  petition  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  for  its 
intercession  with  his  sovereign.     Thus  were  half  of  the  Spanish  do- 


''.   I 


1768.] 


VOYAGE  OF  MARTINEZ  AND  HARO. 


185 


minions  in  America  thrown  into  alarm  and  agitation,  by  the  appear- 
ance of  a  trading  ship  from  the  United  States  on  the  Pacific :  yet 
Tcodor  Lacroix,  the  viceroy  of  Peru,  and  Ambrose  O'Higgins,  cap- 
tain-general of  Chili,  were  men  of  education  and  experience,  distin- 
guished for  their  courage  and  sagacity ;  but  such  was  the  jealous 
system  which  they  were  bound  to  support.* 

For  the  expedition  of  inquiry  to  the  north-west  coasts  of  America, 
the  viceroy  of  Mexico  employed  two  vessels,  the  corvette  Princesa, 
commanded  by  Estevan  Martinez,  (who  had  been  the  pilot  in  the 
voyage  of  Juan  Perez,  in  1774,)  and  the  schooner  San  Carlos,  under 
Lieutenant  Gonzalo  Haro.  They  were  instructed  to  proceed  direct- 
ly k>  Prince  William's  Sound,  and  to  make  every  possible  inquiry 
and  examination  respecting  the  establishments  of  the  Russians  there 
and  in  other  parts  of  America  adjacent ;  having  completed  which, 
they  were  to  explore  the  coasts  southward  to  California,  if  time 
should  be  left  for  that  purpose,  seeking  particularly  for  places 
convenient  for  the  reception  of  Spanish  colonics :  and  they  were 
especially  enjoined  to  treat  the  natives  of  the  places  which  they 
might  visit  with  kindness,  and  not  to  engage  in  any  quarrel  with  the 
Russians. 

Of  this  voyage  of  Martinez  and  Haro,  a  short  account  will  suffice. 
They  quitted  San  Bias  on  the  8th  of  March,  1788,  and,  on  the 
25tli  of  May,  they  anchored  in  the  entrance  of  Prince  William's 
Sound,  where  they  lay  nearly  a  month,  without  making  any  attempt 
to  examine  the  surrounding  shores.  At  length,  in  the  end  of  June, 
Haro,  having  sailed,  in  the  San  Carlos,  along  the  coast  of  the  ocean 
farther  south-west,  discovered  a  Russian  establishment  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Island  of  Kodiak,  under  the  command  of  a  Greek,  named 
Delaref,  with  whom  he  was  able  to  communicate ;  and  from  this 
person  he  received  detailed  accounts  of  all  the  Russian  establish- 
ments in  that  quarter.  On  the  3d  of  July,  Haro  rejoined  Martinez, 
who  had,  in  the  mean  time,  explored  the  coasts  of  Prince  William's 
Sound ;  and  they  proceeded  together  along  the  eastern  side  of  the 

•  The  petition  of  Gonzales,  with  copies  of  his  reports  to  the  captain-general,  and 
the  sentence  pronounced  against  him,  remain  in  manuscript  in  the  archives  of  the 
Department  of  State  at  Wasliington.  Mr.  Jefferson,  secretary  of  state  of  the  United 
States,  recommended  his  case  to  the  Spanish  government,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Carmi- 
chael,  then  plenipotentiary  at  Madrid,  dated  April  11th,  17!)0,  with  what  success  is 
not  known.  The  other  particulars  here  related  of  this  curious  affair  are  derived  from 
the  Creneral  Report,  or  Instructions,  left  by  the  viceroy  of  Peru  to  his  successor,  on 
his  retirement  from  that  office,  which  was  published  at  London  in  1823,  in  the  BibliO' 
teca  Americana. 

34 


.-'•f  I  111 


.(11 


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186 


70TAGE    or   MARTINEZ   AND    HARO. 


[1789. 


peninsula  of  Aliaska,  to  Unalashka,  the  largest  of  the  Aleutian 
Islands,  where  they  arrived  on  the  30th  of  August.  There  they  re- 
mained until  the  18th  of  September,  receiving  every  attention  from 
the  Russians  belonging  to  the  factory,  and  then  sailed  for  the  south. 
In  their  voyage  homeward,  the  vessels  were  separated :  Haro  reached 
San  Bias  on  the  22d  of  October ;  Martinez  did  not  enter  that  port 
until  the  5th  of  December,  having  put  into  Monterey  for  refresh- 
ments.* 

The  geographical  observations  made  in  this  expedition  were  of 
little  value  at  the  time ;  and  it  would  be  needless  to  notice  them 
here,  as  the  coasts  to  which  they  relate  have  been  since  completely 
surveyed.  Agreeably  to  the  report  presented  by  Martinez,  on  his 
return  to  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  the  Russian  establishments  in  Amer- 
ica at  that  time  were  in  number  eight,  all  situated  east  of  Prince 
William's  Sound,  on  which,  however,  one  was  then  in  progress; 
and  they  contained,  together,  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  Russian 
subjects,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  natives  of  Kamtchatka  or  Sibe- 
ria. Martinez  was,  moreover,  informed  that  two  vessels  had  been 
sent  in  that  summer  from  Kodiak,  to  found  a  settlement  at  Nootka 
Sound,  and  that  two  large  ships  were  in  preparation  at  Ochotsk,  for 
further  operations  of  the  same  nature.  The  vessels  sent  from  Ko- 
diak were  doubtless  those  which  proceeded,  under  Ismyloff  and 
Betscharef,  along  the  coast  eastward  to  the  foot  of  Mount  St.  Elias ; 
the  others  were  those  intended  for  the  expedition  under  Billings, 
which  was  not  begun  until  1790. 

These  accounts  of  the  establishments  and  projects  of  the  Rus- 
sians were  immediately  communicated  to  the  court  of  Madrid, 
which  addressed  to  the  empress  of  Russia  a  remonstrance  against 
such  encroachments  of  her  subjects  upon  the  territories  of  his  Cath- 
olic majesty.  In  the  memorial  conveying  this  remonstrance,  it  is  to 
be  remarked  that  Prince  William's  Sound  is  assumed  as  separating 
the  dominions  of  the  two  sovereigns  ;  it  being  doubtless  intended, 

*  The  preceding  account  of  this  voyage  is  derived  from  the  journal  of  Martinez, 
of  which  a  copy,  in  manuscript,  was  obtained  from  the  hydrographical  office  at 
Madrid. 

The  first  notice  of  this  expedition,  published  in  Europe,  was  taken  from  a  letter 
written  at  San  Bias,  soon  afler  the  arrival  of  Haro  at  that  port,  in  which  it  was  said 
that  the  Spaniards  had  found  Russian  establishments  between  the  forty-ninth  and 
the  fiftieth  degrees  of  latitude,  instead  of  between  the  fifty-ninth  and  the  sixtieth  degrees, 
and  on  this  error,  such  as  is  daily  committed  by  persons  ignorant  of  nautical  matters, 
M.  Poletica,  the  Russian  envoy  in  the  United  States,  endeavored,  in  1823,  to  found  a 
claim  for  his  sovereign  to  the  whole  of  the  American  coasts  and  islands  on  the  Pacific 
north  of  the  forty-ninth  parcdlel.     See  hereafter,  chap.  xvi. 


1789.] 


CLAIMS    OF    SPAIN    EXAMINED. 


187 


by  means  of  this  gcogtiphical  obscurity,  to  leave  undefined  the  del- 
icate question  as  to  the  limits  of  Spanish  America  in  the  north- 
west. The  empress  of  Russia  answered  —  that  orders  had  been 
given  to  her  subjects  not  to  make  settlements  in  places  belonging 
to  other  nations  ;  and,  if  those  orders  had  been  violated  with  regard 
to  Spanish  America,  she  desired  the  king  of  Spain  to  arrest  the  en- 
croachments, in  a  friendly  manner.  With  this  answer,  more  cour- 
teous than  specific,  the  Spanish  minister  professed  himself  content ; 
observing,  however,  in  his  reply,  that  Spain  "  could  not  be  respon- 
sible for  what  her  officers  might  do,  at  places  so  distant,  whilst  they 
were  acting  under  general  orders  to  allow  no  settlements  to  be 
made  by  other  nations  on  the  Spanish  American  continent."  * 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  Don  Manuel 
de  Florcs,  had,  in  virtue  of  his  general  instructions,  taken  a  decisive 
measure  with  regard  to  Nootka  Sound.  For  that  purpose,  he  de- 
spatched Martinez  and  Haro  from  San  Bias,  early  in  1789,  with  their 
vessels  manned  and  equipped  effectively  ;  ordering  them,  in  case  any 
British  or  Russian  vessel  should  appear  at  Nootka,  to  receive  her 
with  the  attention  and  civility  required  by  the  peace  and  friendship 
existing  between  Spain  and  those  nations,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
to  declare  the  paramount  rights  of  his  Catholic  majesty  to  the  place, 
and  the  adjacent  coasts,  firmly,  though  discreetly,  and  without  using 
harsh  or  insulting  language.f 

Before  entering  upon  the  narrative  of  the  events  which  followed, 
it  should  be  observed,  with  regard  to  the  right  of  the  Spanish  gov- 
ernment thus  to  take  possession  of  Nootka,  that,  before  the  6th  of 
May,  1789,  when  Martinez  entered  the  sound  with  that  object,  no 
settlement,  factory,  or  other  establishment  whatsoever,  had  been 
founded  or  attempted,  nor  had  any  jurisdiction  been  exercised 
by  the  authorities  or  subjects  of  a  civilized  nation,  in  any  part  df 
America  bordering  upon  the  Pacific,  between  Port  San  Francisco, 
near  the  38th  degree  of  north  latitude,  and  Prince  William's  Sound, 
near  the  60th.  The  Spaniards,  the  British,  the  Russians,  and  the 
French,  had,  indeed,  landed  at  many  places  on  those  coasts,  where 
they  had  displayed  flags,  performed  ceremonies,  and  erected  monu- 
ments, by  way  of  taking  possession  —  as  it  was  termed  —  of  the  ad- 


i^v^m 


^1    ,h 


"  Memorial  addressed  by  the  court  of  Spain  to  that  of  London,  dated  June  1 3th, 
1790,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the 
letter  D,  No.  3. 

t  Abstract  of  these  instructions  to  Martinez,  in  the  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of 
Galiano  and  Valdes,  p.  106. 


lijiili 


li 


188 


RIGHTS    DEHIVUO    FROM    DISCOVERT. 


[1789. 


J , 


jaccnt  territories  for  their  respective  sovereigns ;  but  such  acts  are^ 
and  were  then,  generally  considered  as  empty  pageants,  securing 
no  real  rights  to  those  by  whom,  or  in  whose  names,  they  were  per- 
formed. Nor  does  it  appear  that  any  portion  of  the  ubovc-nien- 
tioned  territories  hvn\  become  the  property  of  a  foreigner,  either  by 
purchase,  occupation,  or  any  other  title,  which  can  be  regarded  qs 
valid.  It  has  been  already  said  that  Mr.  Meares,  in  his  Memorial, 
addressed  to  the  British  Parliament,  in  1790,  laid  claim  to  certain 
tracts  of  land  about  Nootka  Sound,  as  having  been  ce<led  to  him  by 
the  natives  of  the  country,  in  1788 ;  but  it  was,  at  the  same  time, 
shown  that  this  claim  was  unsupported  by  sufficient  evidence,  and 
was,  moreover,  directly,  as  well  as  indirectly,  contradicted  by  Mr. 
Meares  himself,  in  his  journal  of  the  same  proceedings :  and  other 
circumstances  will  be  mentioned  hereafter,  serving  to  prove  the 
falsehood  of  that  jKjrson's  assertions,  and  of  his  pretensions  to  the 
possession  of  any  part  of  the  American  territory. 

The  right  of  exclusive  sovereignty  over  these  extensive  regions 
was  claimed  by  Spain,  in  virtue  of  the  papol  concession,  1493,  of 
the  first  discovery  of  their  coasts  by  Spanish  subjects,  and  of  the 
contiguity  of  the  territories  to  the  settled  dominions  of  Spain.  Of 
the  validity  of  the  title  derived  from  the  popal  concession  it  appears 
to  be  needless,  at  the  present  day,  to  speak.  That  the  Spaniards 
were  the  first  discoverers  of  the  west  coasts  of  America,  at  least  as 
far  north  as  the  56th  parallel  of  latitude,  has  been  already  shown ; 
and  the  fact  is,  and  has  been  ever  since  the  publication  of  Maurelle's 
Journal,  in  1781,  as  indisputable  as  that  the  Portuguese  discovered 
the  south  coasts  of  Africa.  The  extent  of  the  rights  derived  from 
discovery  are,  however,  by  no  means  clearly  defined  by  writers  on 
public  law  ;  and  the  practice  of  nations  has  been  so  dilVerent  in  dif- 
ferent cases,  that  it  seems  impossible  to  deduce  any  general  rule  of 
action  from  it.  That  a  nation  whose  subjects  or  citiztms  had  as- 
certained the  existence  of  a  country  previously  unknown,  should 
have  a  better  right  than  any  other  to  make  settlements  in  that  coun- 
try, and,  after  such  settlement,  to  own  it,  and  to  exercise;  sovereignty 
over  it,  is  in  every  rcsj)ect  conformable  with  nature  and  justice ;  bnt 
this  principle  is  liable  to  innumerable  difficulties  in  its  application  lo 
particular  cases.  It  is  seldom  easy  to  decide  how  fur  a  discovery 
may  have  been  such,  in  all  respects,  as  should  give  this  strongest 
right  to  settle,  or  to  what  extent  of  country  a  title  of  sovereignty 
may  have  been  acquired  by  a  |)articular  settlement :  and  even  where 
the  novelty  or  priority  and  sufficiency  of  the  discovery  are  admit- 


1789.] 


NEW    EXfEDITION    FROM    MACAO. 


189 


ted,  the  right  of  prior  occupation  cannot  surely  be  regarded  as 
subsisting  forever,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  nations ;  and  the 
claims  of  states  occupying  contiguous  territories  are  always  to  be 
taken  into  consideration 

Agreeably  to  these  views,  it  could  not  with  justice  be  assumed 
that  Spain,  from  the  mere  fact  of  the  first  discovery  of  the  north- 
west coasts  of  America  by  her  subjects,  acquired  the  right  to 
exclude  all  other  nations  from  them  forever ;  but  it  would  be  most 
unjust  to  deny  that  her  right  to  occupy  those  vacant  territories, 
contiguous  as  they  were  to  her  settled  dominions,  even  if  they  had 
not  been  first  discovered  by  her  subjects,  was  much  stronger  than 
that  of  any  other  nation.  Thus  the  occupation,  and  even  the 
exploration,  of  any  part  of  the  north-west  coasts  by  another  power, 
might  have  been  reasonably  considered  by  Spain  a^  an  unfriendly, 
if  not  as  an  offensive,  act ;  while  she  might,  on  the  contrary,  have 
extended  her  establishments  at  least  as  far  north  as  the  56th  parallel, 
and  have  claimed  the  exclusive  right  of  occupying  all  the  coasts 
south  of  her  most  northern  establishment,  without  giving  just  cause 
of  jlissatisfaction  to  any  other  |x>wer.  The  exclusive  right  of 
occupation  must  be  here  distinguished  from  the  exclusive  right  of 
sovereigiiti/ ;  as  no  nation  could  be  justified,  by  virtue  of  the  former 
right,  and  without  occupation  or  the  performance  of  acts  indicating 
an  intention  to  occupy,  in  depriving  others  of  the  trade  of  extensive 
vac'iiiit  scu-coasts,  unless  upon  the  ground  that  the  exercise  of  such 
trade  would  be  injurious  to  its  actual  interests  in  those  countries. 

Resuming  the  narrative  of  events  in  the  North  Pacific  —  It  has 
been  mentioned,  in  the  preceding  clmpter,  that  Mcares  sailed  in  the 
Felice  from  Nootka  Sound  to  China,  in  the  end  of  September, 
1789.  On  reaching  Macao,  in  December  following,  he  learned  that, 
(hiring  his  absence,  Juan  Cavallo,  the  Portuguese  merchant,  whose 
name  appearctl  on  the  papers  of  the  Felice  and  Iphigenia  as  their 
owner,  had  become  a  bankrupt.  What  steps  were  taken  immediate- 
ly, in  consequence  of  this  event,  is  not  related  ;  but  an  arrangement 
was  soon  after  made  between  the  anonymous  merchant  proprietors 
and  Mr.  Etches,  the  agent  of  the  King  George's  Sound  Company, 
who  was  then  at  Macao,  with  the  ship  Prince  of  Wales  and  sloop 
Princess  Royal,  for  a  union  of  the  interests  of  the  two  parties. 
A<:rceably  to  this  arrangement,  the  Felice  was  sold,  and  the  Prince 
of  Wales  returned  to  England  ;  and  a  ship  called  the  Argonaut  was 
purchased,  in  which  Colnett,  a  lieutenant  in  the  British  navy,  previ- 
ously commanding  the  Princess  Royal,  was  despatched,  in  April, 


."It 


^c 


!  '■ 


h 


i;  !■ 


:N.|1 


•  iii'.i 


il. 


■         ■'.    Ui.  I- 
•I   M  Ij;  I J 


190 


NEW   EXPEDITION    rROM  MACAO. 


[1789. 


'ji  1    I  ■ 


rh',. 


I'^yMf 


li 


1789,  to  Nootka,  as  captain,  and  agent  for  the  proprietors  on  the 
American  coast,  accompanied  by  the  Princess  Royal,  under  Captain 
William  Hudson. 

The  management  of  the  aflhirs  of  the  association  at  Macao  ap. 
pears  to  have  been  committed  entirely  to  Mcares,  who  drew  up  the 
instructions  for  Colnett.  From  these  instructions,  of  which  a  copy 
is  appended  by  Meares  to  his  Memorial,  it  is  evident  that  there  was 
really  an  intention  to  found  a  permanent  establishment  on  some 
part  of  the  north-west  coast  of  Anicrica,  although  no  spot  is  dcsig. 
nated  as  its  site,  and  no  hint  is  given  of  any  acquisition  of  territory 
having  been  already  made  at  or  near  Nootka  Sound.  Indeed,  the 
only  reference  to  that  place,  in  the  whole  paper,  is  contained  in  the 
words,  ♦'  We  recommend  you,  if  possible,  to  form  a  treaty  with  the 
various  chiefs,  particularly  at  Nootka."  Yet  Meares,  in  his  Memo- 
rial, strangely  enough  says,  '<  Mr.  Colnett  was  directed  to  fix  his 
residence  at  Nootka  Sound,  and,  with  that  view,  to  erect  a  substan- 
tial house  on  the  spot  which  your  memorialist  had  purchased  in  the 
preceding  year,  os  will  appear  by  a  copy  of  his  instructions  hereunto 
annexed."  The  Argonaut  and  Princess  Royal  were,  moreover, 
certainly  navigated  under  the  British  flag ;  there  being  no  object  in 
using  any  other,  as  they  were  both  provided  with  licenses  from  the 
East  India  and  the  South  Sea  Companies,  which  aflforded  them  the 
requisite  authorization.''*' 

Whilst  these  vessels  were  on  their  way  to  Nootka  Sound,  their 
first  place  of  destination  on  the  coast,  the  brig  Iphigenia,  and 
schooner  North- West  America,  belonging  to  the  same  association, 
though  under  Portuguese  colors,  arrived  in  that  bay  from  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  where  they  had  passed  the  winter,  agreeably  to 
the  instructions  of  Mr.  Meares.  They  entered  the  sound  on  the 
20th  of  April,  in  the  most  wretched  condition  imaginable.  The 
Iphigenia  was  a  mere  wreck  ;  according  to  the  journal  of  Douglas, 
her  supercargo  or  captain,  annexed  to  the  Memorial  of  Meares, 

•  The  following  account  of  the  occurrpncos  at  Nootka  in  the  summer  of  1789  is 
taken  from  —  the  journal  or  narrative  of  the  voyage  of  Meares,  and  the  documents 
attached  to  it,  consisting  of  his  Memorial  to  Parliament,  and  papers  in  proof,  among 
which  is  especially  worthy  of  notice  the  journal  of  Douglas,  the  captain  or  supercargo 
of  the  Iphigenia  —  the  journal  of  Colnett's  voyage,  in  17!)3,  in  which  some  of  those 
circumstances  are  related  in  a  note,  at  page  96  —  the  journal  of  Vancouver's  voyage 
in  17!)2  —  the  letter  addresijcd  by  the  American  Captains  Gray  and  Ingraham  to  the 
Spanish  commandant  at  Nootka,  in  17!)3,  which  will  be  found  at  length  among  the 
Proofs  and  Illustrations,  at  the  end  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  C  —  and  the 
memorials  and  other  papers  relative  to  the  dispute  which  ensued  between  Great 
Britain,  in  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  under  the  letter  D. 


[1789. 

rf  on  the 
ir  Captain 

llacao  a(>- 
>w  up  the 
ch  a  copy 
there  was 

on  some 
t  is  design 
if  territory 
ndced, the 
ncd  in  the 
y  with  the 
his  Memo- 

to  fix  his 

a  substan- 
ased  in  the 
na  hereunto 

moreover, 
lo  object  in 
s  from  the 
1  them  the 

ound,  their 
genia,  and 
issociation, 
from  the 
^reeably  to 
md  on  the 
able.  The 
)f  Douglas, 
of  Meares, 

icr  of  1789  is 
he  documents 
proof,  among 
or  supercargo 
some  of  those 
luvcr's  voyage 
raham  to  the 
th  among  the 
C  —  and  the 
etween  Great 


1789.] 


SEIZURE   or   THE    IPIIIOENIA. 


191 


"  she  had  like  to  have  foundered  at  sea,  for  want  of  pitch  and  tar 
to  stop  the  leaks ;  she  had  no  bread  on  board,  and  nothing  but  salt 
pork  for  her  crew  to  live  on ;  she  was  without  cables,"  and,  on 
attempting  to  moor  her  in  the  harbor,  it  was  nt-cessary  to  *'  borrow 
a  full  from  the  American  sloop  Washington,"  which,  with  the  ship 
Columbia,  was  found  lying  there.  The  North- West  Amorii;a  was 
in  no  better  condition ;  and,  as  they  had  un  articles  for  barter  with 
the  natives,  they  must  have  remained  inactive  for  some  time,  had 
they  not  procured  some  assistance  and  supplies  from  the  American 
vessels,  by  means  of  which  the  schooner  was  enabled  to  leave  the 
sound  on  the  28th  of  the  month,  for  a  short  trading  trip  along  the 
coasts.  The  Washington,  about  the  same  time,  also  departed  on  a 
similar  expedition  ;  and  the  Iphigenia,  lying  at  Friendly  Cove,  and 
the  Columbia,  at  Mawhinna,  a  few  miles  higher  up,  were  the  only 
vessels  in  Nootka  Sound  on  the  6th  of  May,  when  the  Spanish 
commander  Martinez  arrived  there  in  the  corvette  Princesa,  to  take 
possession  of  the  country  for  his  sovereign. 

Martinez  immediately  communicated  his  intentions  to  the  captains 
of  the  other  vessels,  whose  papers  he  also  examined ;  and,  appear- 
ini^  to  be  content,  he  landed  materials  and  artillery,  and  began  to 
erect  a  fort  on  a  small  island  at  the  entrance  of  Friendly  Cove. 
With  this  assumption  of  authority  on  his  part,  no  dissatisfaction 
appears  to  have  been  expressed  or  entertained  by  either  of  the  other 
parties ;  on  the  contrary,  the  utmost  good  feeling  for  some  time 
prevailed  on  all  sides :  the  officers  of  the  diflferent  vessels  visited 
and  dined  with  each  other,  and  Martinez  readily  supplied  the 
Iphigenia  with  articles  of  which  she  was  in  need,  in  order  to  go  to 
sea  immediately,  accepting,  in  return  for  them,  bills  drawn  by  her 
Portuguese  captain,  Viana,  upon  Juan  Cavallo,  the  Portuguese 
merchant  of  Macao,  as  her  owner. 

Things  remained  thus  at  Nootka  for  a  week,  at  the  end  of  which 
time  the  other  Spanish  vessel,  the  San  Carlos,  arrived,  under 
Captain  Haro.  On  the  following  day,  the  15th  of  May,  Martinez 
invited  Viana  and  Douglas  to  come  on  board  his  ship;  and,  on 
their  doing  so,  he  immediately  told  them  that  they  were  prisoners, 
and  their  vessel  was  to  be  seized.  "  I  inquired,"  says  Douglas,  in 
his  journal,  *^  the  cause  of  his  not  taking  the  Washington  sloop,  as  he 
had  orders  from  the  king  of  Spain  to  take  every  vessel  he  met  out 
on  this  coast.  He  gave  me  no  satisfactory  answer,  but  told  me  my 
papers  were  bad ;  that  they  mentioned  I  was  to  take  all  English, 
Russian,  and  Spanish  vessels  that  were   of  inferior  force  to  the 


MWi. 
lit 


.    I 


V.S 


I    ■!,■ 


1  ■  j 


!  i 


: 


.  H'<.  I . 


19:2 


THE    IPUIGENIA    RELKASF.D    BV    MAHTINEZ. 


[iTsn. 


Iphigenia,  and  send  or  carry  their  crews  to  Macao,  there  to  be  tried 
for  their  lives  as  pirates.  I  told  him  they  had  not  interpreted  tho 
papers  right ;  that,  though  I  did  not  understand  the  Portuguese,  / 
had  seen  a  copy  of  them  in  English,  at  Macao,  which  mentioned,  if 
I  was  attacked  by  any  one  of  those  nations,  to  defend  myself,  and, 
if  I  had  the  superiority,  to  send  the  captains  and  crews  to  Macao, 
to  answer  for  the  insult  they  had  offered."  Martinez,  however, 
was  not,  or  did  not  choose  to  be,  content  with  this  explanation, 
which  certainly  did  not  place  the  Iphigenia  and  her  owners  in  a 
position  conformable  with  the  usages  of  civilized  nations ;  and,  in 
obedience  to  his  orders,  that  brig  was  boarded  by  the  Spaniards,  her 
men,  with  her  charts,  papers,  and  instruments,  were  transferred  to 
the  ships  of  war,  and  preparations  were  begun  for  sending  her,  as  a 
prize,  to  San  Bias. 

Whilst  these  preparations  were  in  progress,  the  Spanish  com- 
mandant altered  his  intentions,  and  proposed  to  release  the  Iphigenia 
and  her  crew,  on  condition  that  her  officers  would  sign  a  declaration 
to  the  effect  that  she  had  not  been  interrupted,  but  had  been  kindly 
treated  and  supplied  by  him  during  her  stay  at  Nootka.  Tliis 
proposition  was  at  first  refused :  an  arrangement  was,  however, 
afierwurds  made  between  the  parties,  in  consequence  of  which  tlio 
declaration  was  signed  by  the  officers  of  the  Iphigenia,  and  she  and 
Jier  crew  were  liberated  on  the  26th  of  May.  Messrs.  Viana  and 
Douglas  at  the  same  time  engaged  for  themselves,  as  "  captain  aid 
supercargo  respectively,  and  for  Juan  Cavallo,  of  Macao,  as  oicntr 
of  the  said  vessel,^^  to  pay  her  value,  on  demand,  to  the  order  of  the 
viceroy  of  Mexico,  in  case  he  should  pronounce  her  capture  legal. 

This  seizure  of  the  Iphigenia  by  Martinez  can  scarcely  be  con- 
sidered unjust  or  unmerited,  when  it  is  recollected  that,  if,  in 
attempting  to  enforce,  with  regard  to  her,  the  orders  of  his  govern- 
ment,—  which  were  perfectly  conformable  with  the  principles  of 
national  law  as  then  recognized,  and  with  treaties  between  Spain 
and  the  other  powers,  —  he  had  been  resisted  and  overcome,  ho, 
with  his  officers  and  men,  would  have  been  carried  to  Macao  as 
prisoners,  to  be  tried  in  Portuguese  courts  for  piracy.  Moreover, 
he  had  been  informed  that  Mcarcs  was  daily  expected  to  arrive  at 
Nootka,  with  other  vessels  belonging  to  the  same  concern ;  and  it 
was  his  duty  to  provide  against  the  probability  of  being  overpowered 
or  insulted,  by  lessening  the  forces  of  those  from  whom  he  had 
every  reason  to  apprehend  an  attack.  He  was,  indeed,  specially 
enjoined,  by  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  to  treat  English  and  Russian 


1789.] 


THE    IPHIGENIA    RETURNS    TO    CHINA. 


193 


vessels  with  respect ;  but  the  contingency  of  his  meeting  with  a 
Portuguese  vessel  at  Nootka,  furnished  with  such  instructions  as 
those  carried  by  the  Iphigenia,  could  not  have  been  foreseen  ;  and 
the  only  grounds  upon  which  he  could  have  excused  himself  to  his 
government  for  releasing  her,  even  under  the  pledge  given  by 
her  officers,  must  have  been,  that,  at  the  time  when  those  instruc- 
tions were  written,  it  was  not  anticipated,  by  her  proprietors,  that 
Spain  would  take  possession  of  any  place  on  the  north-west  coast 
of  America. 

That  the  detention  of  the  Iphigenia  by  the  Spaniards  was  not 
injurious  to  the  interests  of  her  owners,  is  clearly  proved.  The 
distressed  condition  in  which  she  reached  Nootka  has  been  already 
shown  from  the  accounts  of  her  officers ;  and  she  must  have 
remained  at  that  place,  unemployed,  during  the  greater  and  better 
part  of  the  trading  season,  had  she  not  been  refitted  and  supplied 
as  she  was  by  the  Spaniards.  According  to  the  narrative  of  Meares, 
she  sailed  from  the  sound  on  the  1st  of  June,  to  the  coasts  of  Queen 
Charlotte's  Island,  where  she  collected  a  number  of  valuable  furs 
in  a  few  weeks :  the  trade  was  "  so  brisk,"  writes  Meares,  "  that 
all  the  stock  of  iron  was  soon  expended,  and  they  were  under  the 
necessity  of  cutting  up  the  chain  plates  and  hatch-bars  of  the  vessel," 
in  order  to  find  the  means  of  purchasing  the  skins  offered  ;  thence 
she  departed  for  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and,  after  a  short  stay  there, 
continued  her  voyage  to  Macao,  where  she  arrived  in  October,  with 
about  seven  hundred  sea  otter  skins,  all  collected  since  leaving  Nootka 
Sound.  Mr.  Meares,  in  his  Memorial,  however,  presents  a  very 
difl'erent  picture  of  these  circumstances :  he  there  says,  "  During 
the  time  the  Spaniards  held  possession  of  the  Iphigenia,  she  was 
stripped  of  all  the  merchandise  which  had  been  prepared  for  trading, 
as  also  of  her  stores,  provisions,  nautical  instruments,  charts,  &,c., 
and,  in  short,  of  every  article,  excejH  twelve  bars  of  iron,  which  they 
could  conveniently  carry  away,  even  to  the  extent  of  the  master's 
watch,  and  articles  of  clothing ; "  he  then  goes  on  to  state  that, 
"on  leaving  Nootka  Sound,  the  Iphigenia,  though  in  a  very  unfit 
condition  for  such  a  voyage,  proceeded  from  thence  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  and,  after  obtaining  tiiere  such  supplies  as  they  were 
enabled  to  purchase  with  the  iron  before  mentioned,  returned  to 
China,  and  anchored  there  in  the  month  of  October,  1789"  —  thus 
omitting  all  notice  of  the  trip  to  the  northern  coasts,  and  of  the 
brisk  trade  with  the  natives,  in  which  the  whole  stock  of  iron 
25 


IV 


••It 


Ij! 


,i> 


J       ,   I 


!  . 


194 


SEizrnr.  of  the  north-west  America. 


[1789. 


M^ 

"^..■^■i 

ill 

.     1    ■ 

'     1"          ' 

wt^' 

m|'' 

Mm 

s^B  '1 '^ 

;,■  ■  .  •  .       -j 

Km  '^'- 

I9('|T ' 

is^^' 

11 'f. 

,        .     ■ 

■'I  i> 


!T^ 


■\ 


(including,  of  course,  the  twelve  bars  before  mentioned)  was  ex- 
changed for  furs. 

Before  taking  leave  of  the  Iphigenia,  it  may  be  added,  in  evi- 
dence of  her  true  character,  that  Douglas  quitted  her  immediately 
on  her  arrival  in  China ;  after  which  she  continued  to  trade  under 
the  command  of  Viana,  and  under  the  flag  of  Portugal. 

On  the  8th  of  June,  after  the  departure  of  the  Iphigenia,  the 
schooner  North- West  America  returned  from  her  voyage  along  the 
southern  coasts,  in  which  she  had  collected  about  two  hundred  sea 
otter  skins,  and  was  immediately  seized  by  Martinez,  in  consequence, 
as  he  at  first  said,  of  an  agreement  to  that  effect  between  himself 
and  the  captain  of  the  Iphigenia.  This  agreement  is  expressly  de- 
nied by  Douglas,  who  declares  that  both  promises  and  threats  had 
been  used  in  vain  to  induce  him  to  sell  the  small  vessel  at  a  price 
far  below  her  real  value ;  and,  in  proof,  he  cites  a  letter  given  by 
him  to  Martinez,  addressed  to  the  captain  of  the  North- West  Amer- 
ica, in  which  he  merely  tells  the  latter  to  act  as  he  may  think  best 
for  the  interest  of  the  owners.  Mearcs,  in  his  Memorial,  however, 
admits  that  the  letter  did  not  contain  what  Martinez  understood  to  be 
its  purport  when  he  received  it,  and  that  advantage  had  been  taken 
by  Douglas  of  the  Spaniard's  ignorance  of  the  English  language ; 
from  which  circumstances  it  is  most  probable  that  the  agreement, 
whether  voluntary  on  the  part  of  the  captain  of  the  Iphigenia,  or 
unjustly  extorted  from  him,  was  actually  made  as  asserted  by  Marti- 
nez. A  few  days  afterwards,  the  sloop  Princess  Royal,  one  of  the 
vessels  sent  from  Macao  by  the  associated  companies,  entered  the 
sound  under  the  command  of  William  Hudson,  bringing  infor- 
mation of  the  failure  of  Cavallo,  the  Portuguese  merchant,  upon 
whom,  as  owner  of  fhe  Iphigenia,  the  bills  in  payment  for  the  sup- 
plies furnished  to  that  vessel,  were  drawn.  Upon  learning  this, 
Martinez  announced  his  determination  to  hold  the  North-West 
America  in  satisfaction  for  the  amount  of  those  bills:  she  was 
thereupon  immediately  equipped  for  a  trading  voyage,  and  sent  out 
under  the  command  of  one  of  the  mates  of  the  Columbia ;  but  her 
officers  and  men  were  at  the  same  time  liberated,  and  nearly  all  the 
skins  collected  by  her  were  placed  on  board  the  Princess  Royal,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  owners  in  China. 

The  Princess  Royal  remained  at  Nootka  until  the  2d  of  July, 
during  which  period  she  was  undisturbed,  and  her  officers  and 
men  were  treated  with  perfect  civility  and  respect  by  the  Span- 


1769.] 


SEIZURE    OF    THE    ARGONAUT    AT    NOOTKA. 


195 


.VI 


j  ♦■ri  ii 


iards.  As  she  was  leaving  the  sound  on  that  day,  her  consort,  the 
ship  Argonaut,  came  in  from  Macao,  under  Captain  Colnett,  who,  as 
already  mentioned,  had  been  charged  by  the  associated  companies 
with  the  direction  of  their  affairs  on  the  American  coasts,  and  the 
estaWishment  of  a  factory  and  fort  for  their  benefit.  What  followed 
with  regard  to  this  ship  has  been  represented  under  various  colors ; 
but  the  principal  facts,  as  generally  admitted,  were  these :  — 

As  soon  as  the  Argonaut  appeared  at  the  entrance  of  the  sound, 
she  was  boarded  by  Martinez,  who  presented  to  Colnett  a  letter 
from  the  captain  of  the  Princess  Royal,  and  pressed  him  earnestly 
to  enter  the  sound,  and  supply  the  Spanish  vessels  with  some  arti- 
cles of  which  they  were  much  in  want.  Several  of  the  officers  of 
the  North- West  America  and  the  Columbia  also  came  on  board  the 
Argonaut,  and  communicated  what  had  occurred  respecting  the 
Iphigenia  and  the  small  vessel  to  Colnett,  who,  in  consequence,  hes- 
itated as  to  entering  the  sound  ;  but  he  was  finally  induced,  by  the 
assurances  of  Martinez,  to  do  so,  and  before  midnight  his  ship 
was  anchored  in  Friendly  Cove,  between  the  Princesa  and  the  San 
Carlos. 

On  the  following  day,  Colnett,  having  supplied  the  Spanish  ships 
with  some  articles,  was  preparing,  as  he  states,  to  leave  the  sound, 
when  he  received  an  invitation  to  go  on  board  the  commandant's 
ship  and  exhibit  his  papers.  He  accordingly  went,  in  uniform,  and 
with  his  sword  by  his  side,  into  the  cabin  of  the  Princesa,  where  he 
displayed  his  papers,  and  informed  Martinez  of  his  intention  to  take 
possession  of  Nootka,  and  erect  a  fort  there  under  the  British  flag. 
The  commandant  replied,  that  this  could  not  be  done,  as  the  place 
was  already  occupied  by  the  forces  and  in  the  name  of  his  Catholic 
majesty;  and  an  altercation  ensued,  the  results  of  which  were  the 
arrest  and  confinement  of  Colnett,  and  the  seizure  of  the  Argonaut 
by  the  Spaniards.  From  the  moment  of  his  arrest,  Colnett  became 
insane  or  delirious,  and  continued  in  this  state  for  several  weeks, 
during  which  Duffin,  the  mate  of  his  vessel,  acted  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  proprietors :  in  the  mean  time,  her  cargo  had  been  all 
j)lacod  on  board  the  Spanish  ships  of  war ;  and.  on  the  13th  of 
July,  she  sailed,  with  her  officers  and  nearly  the  whole  of  her  crew  as 
prisoners,  under  the  command  of  a  Spanish  lieutenant,  for  San  Bias. 

If  the  accounts  of  these  transactions,  presented  by  Meares  in  his 
Memorial,  and  by  Colnett  in  the  narrative  which  he  afterwards 
published,  be  admitted  as  conveying  a  full  and  correct  view  of  the 


^i 


t' 


•i      :v:t 


!  :i 


:i 


196 


SEIZURE    OF    THE    ARGONAUT    AT    NOOTKA. 


,  r 


I  i 


if 


.isiyii' 


[1789. 


circumstances,  the  conduct  of  Martinez  must  be  considered  as  nearly 
equivalent  to  piracy.  From  these  accounts  it  would  appear  that  the 
ship  was  treacherously  seized,  without  any  reasonable  ground,  or 
even  pretext,  and  with  the  sole  premeditated  object  of  plundering 
her ;  and  that  the  most  cruel  acts  of  violence,  insult,  and  restraint, 
were  wantonly  committed  upon  the  officers  and  men  during  the 
whole  period  of  their  imprisonment.  Colnett  relates  *  —  that,  when 
he  presented  his  papers  to  Martinez  in  the  cabin  of  the  Princesa, 
the  commandant,  without  examining  them,  pronounced  them  to  be 
forged,  and  immediately  declared  that  the  Argonaut  should  not  go 
to  sea  —  that,  upon  his  "  remonstrating  [in  what  terms  he  does  not 
say]  against  this  breach  of  good  faith,  and  forgetfulness  of  teord 
and  honor  pledged,'^  the  Spaniard  rose,  in  apparent  anger,  and 
introduced  a  party  of  armed  men,  by  whom  he  was  struck  down, 
placed  in  the  stocks,  and  then  closely  confined  —  that  he  was  after- 
wards carried  from  ship  to  ship  like  a  criminal,  threatened  with 
instant  execution  as  a  pirate,  and  subjected  to  so  many  injuries  and 
indignities  as  to  throw  him  into  a  violent  fever  and  delirium,  which 
were  near  proving  fatal  —  and  that  his  officers  and  men  were  impris- 
oned and  kept  in  irons  from  the  time  of  their  seizure  until  their 
arrival  at  San  Bias,  where  many  of  them  died  in  consequence  of  ill 
treatment.  Meares,  in  his  Memorial,  makes  the  same  assertions, 
many  of  which  are  supported  by  the  deposition  of  the  officers  and 
seamen  of  the  North- West  America,  taken  in  China,  and  appended 
to  the  Memorial.  On  the  other  hand.  Gray,  the  captain  of  the 
Washington,  and  Ingraham,  the  mate  of  the  Columbia,  both  of 
whom  were  at  Nootka  during  the  occurrence  of  the  afl'air,  "  were 
informed  by  those  whose  veracity  they  had  no  reason  to  doubt,"! 
that  Colnett,  in  his  interview  with  Martinez  on  board  the  Princesa, 
denied  the  right  of  the  Spaniards  to  occupy  Nootka,  and  endeav- 
ored to  impose  upon  the  Spanish  commandant,  by  representint; 
himself  as  acting  under  direct  orders  from  the  British  government ; 
and  that  he  afterwards  insulted  the  Spaniard  by  threatening  him 
and  drawing  his  sword.  Colnett  himself  says  that  he  attempted  to 
draw  his  sword  on  the  occasion,  but  that  it  was  in  defence  against 
those  who  assailed  him  ;  and  it  must  be  allowed  to  be  very  difficult  to 
"  remonstrate  "  with  a  man  upon  "  his  breach  of  faith,  and  forgetful- 


*  Account  of  his  Voyago  in  the  Pacific  in  1703,  nolo  at  p.  !t6;  also  Vancouver's 
Jourtial,  vol.  iii.  p.  402.     These  two  accounts  differ  in  some  points. 

t  Letter  of  Gray  and  Ingraham,  in  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  letter  C. 


ns9.] 


SKIZURE    OF    THE    ARGONAUT. 


\m 


ness  of  his  word  and  honor  pledged,"  without  insulting  him.  Duffin, 
the  mate  of  the  Argonaut,  writing  to  Meares  from  Nootka,  ten  days 
after  the  seizure  of  the  ship,  gives  nearly  the  same  account  of  the 
interview,  adding  that  the  misunderstanding  was  probably  occa- 
sioned by  the  interpreter's  ignorance  of  the  English  language :  he 
says  that  Martinez  appeared  to  be  very  sorry  for  what  had  hap- 
pened, and  had  "  behaved  with  great  civility,  by  obliging  his  pris- 
oners with  every  liberty  that  could  be  expected ; "  and  he  com- 
plains of  no  violence,  either  to  the  feelings  or  to  the  persons  of  any 
of  the  crews  of  the  vessels  seized,  although  he  charges  the  Span- 
iards with  plundering  both  openly  and  secretly.  Moreover,  Duffin 
declares,  and  Meares  repeats,  in  his  Memorial,  that  the  disease  with 
which  Colnett  was  afflicted  after  his  arrest  was  a  fit  of  insanity,  oc- 
casioned by  fear  and  disappointment  operating  upon  a  mind  natu- 
rally weak  and  hereditarily  predisposed  to  such  alienation. 

On  the  part  of  Spain,  the  only  statements  which  have  been  pub- 
licly made  are  those  contained  in  the  notes  and  memorials  ad- 
dressed by  the  court  of  Madrid  to  other  governments  in  1790;  and 
in  the  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes  —  all  of 
which,  though  officially  presented,  are  nevertheless  imperfect  and 
evidently  erroneous  on  several  important  points.* 

Upon  reviewing  the  circumstances  of  the  affair,  there  appears 
to  be  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Colnett  entered  the  sound,  relying  on 
the  assurances  of  Martinez,  that  he  should  be  undisturbed  while 


•Hi  i' 


Hi 


I: 


ii 


"  These  notes  and  memorials,  which  will  be  mentioned  more  particularly  hereafter, 
may  be  found  in  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  under  the  letter  D.  All  that  is  said 
in  the  Introduction  to  the  Journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes  respecting  the  dispute,  or 
the  circumstances  which  led  to  it,  is  contained  in  the  paragraph  of  which  the 
following  is  a  translation  :  — 

"  On  the  2d  of  July,  the  English  ship  Argonaut,  which  had  been  sent  by  an  Eng- 
lish company  from  Macao,  entered  the  port.  Her  captain,  James  Colnett,  came,  with 
authority  from  the  king  of  England,  to  lake  possession  of  the  port  of  Nootka,  to  for- 
tify it,  and  to  establish  there  a  factory  for  the  collection  of  sea  otter  skins,  and  to 
prevent  other  nations  from  engaging  in  this  trade,  with  which  objects  he  was  to  build 
a  large  ship  and  a  schooner.  This  manifest  infraction  of  tiie  riglils  over  that  region 
led  to  a  serious  quarrel  between  the  Spanish  commandant  and  the  English  captain, 
which  extended  to  Europe ;  and,  the  two  powers  being  alarmed,  the  world  was  for 
some  time  threatened  with  war  and  devastation,  tiio  results  of  discord.  Captain  Col- 
nett refused,  repeatedly  and  obstinately,  to  exhibit  to  Martinez  the  instructions  which 
he  brought;  and  he  expressed  himself  in  language  so  indecorous  and  irritating,  that 
our  commandant,  having  exhausted  all  the  measures  of  prudence  which  he  had  hith- 
erto employed,  resolved  to  arrest  tiie  British  captain  in  tlie  cabin  of  his  ship,  and  to 
declare  all  the  persons  on  board  the  Argonaut  prisoners  of  war,  and  to  send  them  to 
San  Bias,  to  be  there  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  viceroy  of  Mexico." 


^■^tNt-]  ■ 


1  HM, 


Ijj    :[ 

1 

ill 

1 

ll 

1 

\m 


1^ 


3];, 


«)"•!■' 


I,  : 


198 


SEIZURE    or    THE    PRINCESS    ROYAL. 


[1789. 


there,  and  be  allowed  to  depart  at  his  pleasure  ;  and  it  seems  to  be 
equally  certain  that  the  English  captain  did  afterwards  conduct 
hiinselt*  with  so  much  violence  and  extravagance  towards  the  Span- 
ish commandant,  as  to  render  his  own  arrest  perfectly  justifiable. 
The  seizure  of  the  Argonaut,  the  imprisonment  of  her  other  officers 
and  crew,  and  the  spoliation  of  her  cargo,  cannot,  however,  be 
defended  on  those  or  on  any  grounds  aflbrded  by  the  evidence  of  any 
of  the  parties  ;  for  Martinez  had  no  rcasou  to  apprehend  an  attack 
from  the  Argonaut,  and  he  had  been  specially  instructed,  by  his 
immediate  superior,  the  viceroy  of  Mexico,  to  suspend,  with  regard 
to  British  vessels  on  the  north-west  coasts,  the  execution  of  the 
general  orders  to  Spanish  commandants,  for  the  seizure  of  foreign 
vessels  entering  the  ports  of  the  American  dominions. 

Still  less  excusable  was  the  conduct  of  Martinez  towards  the  sloop 
Princess  Royal,  on  her  second  arrival  at  Nootka.  She  appeared  at 
ilie  entrance  of  the  sound  on  the  13th  of  July,  having  made  a  short 
trading  cruise  along  the  northern  coasts ;  and  her  captain,  Hudson, 
on  coming  up  to  Friendly  Cove  in  a  boat,  was  arrested,  after  which 
his  vessel  was  boarded  and  brought  in  as  a  prize  by  a  party  of 
Spaniards  desjiatched  for  the  purpose.  On  the  following  day,  the 
majority  of  her  crew  were  transferred  to  the  Argonaut,  which 
carried  them  as  prisoners  to  San  Bias ;  her  cargo  was  then  taken 
out,  and  she  was  herself  afterwards  employed  for  nearly  two  years 
in  the  Spanish  service,  under  Lieutenant  Quimper. 

The  schooner  North- West  America  was  also  retained  in  the 
national  service  of  Spain  ;  her  officers  and  men,  with  some  of 
those  of  the  Argonaut  and  Princess  Royal,  were,  however,  placed 
on  board  the  American  ship  Columbia,  to  be  carried  as  passengers 
to  China,  one  hundred  of  the  sea  otter  skins  found  in  the  Princess 
Royal  being  allowed  in  payment  of  their  wages  and  transportation. 
Martinez  remained  at  Nootka  until  November,  when  he  departed, 
with  his  three  vessels,  for  San  Bias,  agreeably  to  orders  received  by 
liim  from  Mexico. 

The  Columbia  had  remained  in  the  sound  ever  since  her  first 
arrival  there,  in  October,  1783;  the  Washington  being,  in  the  mean 
time,  engaged  in  trading  along  the  coasts  north  and  south  of  that 
place,  to  which  she,  however,  frequently  returned,  in  order  to 
deposit  the  furs  collected.  The  officers  of  these  vessels  were  thus 
witnesses  of  nearly  all  the  occurrences  at  Nootka  during  the  summer 
of  1789,  in  which,  indeed,  they  frequently  took  part  as  mediators; 


1789.] 


CONDUCT    or    THE    AMEIIICANS    AT    NOOTKA. 


199 


and  the  only  evidence,  with  regard  to  those  events,  except  the 
journal  of  Douglas,  which  can  bear  the  test  of  strict  examination,  is 
contained  in  a  letter  addressed,  three  years  afterwards,  lo  the 
Spanish  commandant  of  Nootka,  by  Gray,  the  captain  of  the 
Washington,  and  Ingraham,  the  mate  of  the  Columbia.*  Meares 
and  Colnett  endeavor  to  cast  blame  on  the  Americans  for  their 
conduct  in  these  proceedings ;  their  complaints,  however,  on  exam- 
ination, seem  to  rest  entirely  on  the  fact  that  the  Washington  and 
Columbia  were  undisturbed,  while  their  own  vessels  were  seized  by 
the  Spaniards.  That  Gray  and  Kendrick  profited  by  the  quarrels 
between  the  other  two  parties  is  probable,  and  no  one  can  question 
their  right  to  do  so ;  but  no  evidence  has  been  adduced  that  they,  on 
any  occasion,  took  an  unfair  advantage  of  either:  though  it  is  also 
probable  that  their  feelings  were  rather  in  favor  of  the  Spaniards, 
by  whom  they  were  always  treated  with  courtesy  and  kindness, 
than  of  the  British,  to  whom,  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the  expressions 
of  Meares  and  Colnett,  they  were,  from  the  commencement,  the 
objects  of  hatred  and  ridicule. 

In  one  of  the  above-mentioned  trading  excursions  of  the  Wash- 
ington, made  in  June,  1789,  Gray  explored  the  whole  east  coast  of 
Queen  Charlotte's  Island,  which  had  never  before  been  visited  by 
the  people  of  any  civilized  nation,  though  Duncan,  in  the  Princess 
Royal,  had,  in  the  preceding  year,  sailed  through  the  sea  separating 
it  from  the  main  land  and  other  islands.  The  American,  being 
ignorant  of  this  fact,  as  also  of  the  name  bestowed  on  the  territory 
by  Dixon,  called  it  Washington's  Island;  and  thus  it  was,  for  a 
long  period,  always  distinguished  by  the  fur  traders  of  the  United 
States.  Meares  endeavors,  in  his  narrative,  to  secure  to  Douglas, 
the  captain  of  the  Iphigenia,  the  merit  of  having  first  established 
the  insulation  of  the  territory ;  though  Douglas,  in  his  journal 
annexed  to  that  narrative,  expressly  alludes  to  the  previous  visits 
of  the  Washington  to  many  places  on  the  east  coast.  The  assertion 
of  this  claim  for  Douglas  was  one  of  the  causes  of  the  dispute 
between  Meares  and  Dixon,  in  1791,  which  will  be  hereafter  men- 
tioned more  particularly. 

In  a  subsequent  excursion  from  Nootka,  Gray  entered  the  opening 
south-east  of  that  place,  between  the  48th  and  49th  parallels  of 
latitude,  which  had  been  found  by  Berkely  in  1787,  and  was  sup- 
posed to  be  the  mouth  of  the  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca.     Through 

*  See  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  under  the  letter  D. 


'r'*l  '!| 


i" 


■<j 


! 

r 

'  '    '  n 

i '  •  p  1 

1 

m  ''il 

H 

I'll 

II 

1  '^ 

11 

i    ;■ 

|::f!'  i: 


I    •:  i 


W    ' 


200 


RELEASE    OF    COLNETT. 


[1789. 


this  opening  Gray  sailed,  ns  he  informed  Vancouver  in  1792,  "fifty 
miles  in  an  east-south-east  direction,  and  found  the  passaize  five 
leagues  wide."  He  then  returned  to  the  Pacific,  and,  on  his  wav 
to  Nootka,  he  met  the  Columbia,  which  had  just  quitted  the  sound, 
with  the  crew  of  the  North-West  America  on  board  as  passengers, 
for  China  ;  and  it  was  agreed  between  the  two  captains  that 
Kendrick  should  take  command  of  the  sloop,  and  remain  on  the 
coast,  while  Gray,  in  the  Columbia,  should  carry  to  Canton  all  the 
furs  which  had  been  collected  by  both  vessels.  This  was  according- 
ly done ;  and  Gray  arrived,  on  the  6th  of  December,  at  Canton, 
where  he  sold  his  furs,  and  took  in  a  cargo  of  tea,  with  which  he 
entered  Boston  on  the  10th  of  August,  1790,  having  carried  the  flag 
of  the  United  States  for  the  first  time  around  the  world.  Kendrick, 
immediately  on  parting  with  the  Columbia,  proceeded  in  the 
Washington  to  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  through  which  he  passed,  in  its 
whole  length,  as  will  be  hereafter  more  fully  shown. 

The  Argonaut,  with  Colnett  and  his  men  on  board  as  prisoners, 
arrived,  on  the  16th  of  August,  at  San  Bias,  near  which  place  they 
were  kept  prisoners  until  the  arrival  of  the  commandant  of  that 
department.  Captain  Bodega  y  Quadra,  by  whom  Colnett  was 
treated  with  great  kindness,  and  soon  after  sent  to  the  city  of 
Mexico.  There  he  remained  several  months,  during  which  the 
examination  of  the  cases  of  the  seized  vessels  was  in  progress ;  and 
it  was  at  length  decided  —  that,  although  Martinez  had  acted  con- 
formably with  the  general  laws  and  regulations  of  Spain,  forbidding 
all  aliens  from  resorting  to  the  Spanish  American  coasts,  and  the 
vessels  might  therefore  be  retained  as  lawful  prizes,  yet,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  apparent  ignorance  of  their  officers  and  owners 
with  regard  to  the  laws  and  rights  of  Spain,  as  also  for  the  sake  of 
peace  with  England,  they  should  be  released,  with  the  understand- 
ing, however,  that  they  were  not  again  to  enter  any  place  on  the 
Spanish  American  coasts,  either  for  the  purpose  of  settlement  or 
of  trade  with  the  natives.  In  virtue  of  this  decision,  Colnett 
returned  to  San  Bias,  where  he  learned  that  several  of  his  men  had 
died  of  the  fever  endemic  at  that  place,  and  his  ship  was  much 
injured  by  the  service  to  which  she  had  been  subjected ;  she  was, 
nevertheless,  refitted,  and,  with  the  remainder  of  her  crew,  he 
sailed  in  her  for  Nootka,  to  receive  possession  of  the  Princess 
Royal,  for  which  he  had  an  order.  On  arriving  at  the  sound, 
Colnett  found  the  place  deserted ;  and,  not  knowing  where  to  seek 


1790.] 


THE    PRINCESS    ROYAL    RESTORED. 


201 


the  sloop,  he  sailed  for  Macao,  which  he  reached  in  the  latter  part 
of  1790.  Thence  he  went,  in  the  following  year,  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  where  the  Princess  Royal  was  restored  to  him,  in  March, 
by  Lieutenant  Quimper,  the  Spanish  officer  under  whose  command 
she  had  been  employed  for  nearly  two  years. 

The  political  discussions  between  the  governments  of  Great 
Britain  and  Spain,  which  had  meanwhile  taken  place,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  seizures  at  Nootka,  will  be  related  in  the  en- 
suing chapter. 

26 


,.(• 


.;1i 


'X  '.' '. 


«'< 


1; 


''■!Ti 


'iioa 


CHAPTER    IX. 


1790. 


il'  ,v 


l';.*! 


1.^. 


i    f' 


=  >it'    t 


.n 


Controvrrsy  Ivtworn  Gront  Britain  and  Si)inn  rt'Hptctinjj  tho  North-Wrst  Coasts  nf 
Atiii-ripa  iind  tlip  Naviiratioii  nf  tin'  I'acitir  —  The  Owners  of  the  Vossfls  seized 
ut  Nootka  apply  for  Uedrrss  to  the  Hritisli  <Joveriiiiii'iit,  wliicli  (leiimiulH  Satis- 
faction  for  tlic  allcjrt'd  Ontraifcs  —  Spain  resists  the  Demand,  and  calls  on  Franrc 
for  Aid,  ajrreeably  to  the  Family  Compact  —  I'roeeediniis  in  the  National  Assenilily 
of  France  on  the  Snhject — Sjiain  enija^jcs  to  indemnify  the  Hritish  for  tiio 
Property  seized  —  Fnrther  Demands  of  CJreul  Britain  —  Desifrns  of  Pitt  a>rainst 
Sl)anish  America — Secret  Mediation  of  France,  throuirii  wliicli  the  Dispute  is 
settled  —  (convention  of  October,  17!>0,  called  the  A'ootUa  Treaty — Procuedinc!) 
in  Parliament,  and  lleilections  on  this  Convention. 

The  Columbia  arrived  at  Macao  from  Nootka  in  December, 
1789,  bringing  as  passengers  the  officers  and  crew  of  the  North- 
West  America,  who  communicated  the  news  of  the  capture  of  that 
vessel,  and  of  the  Argonaut  and  Princess  Royal,  by  the  Spaniards. 
The  owners  immediately  determined  to  apply  to  the  British  govern- 
ment for  redress ;  and  Meares  was  accordingly  despatched  to  Lon- 
don, where  he  arrived  in  April.  1790,  provided  with  depositions, 
and  other  documents,  in  substantiation  of  their  claims.  While  he 
was  on  his  way,  however,  the  circumstances  on  which  his  upplica- 
tion  was  to  be  founded  had  already  become  the  subject  of  a  serious 
discussion  between  the  courts  of  London  and  M.idrid. 

On  the  10th  of  February,  1790,  the  Spanish  ambassador  at 
London  presented  to  the  British  ministry  a  note,  in  which,  after 
communicating  the  fact  of  the  seizure  of  a  British  vessel  (the 
Argonaut)  at  Nootka,  he  required,  in  the  name  of  his  government, 
that  the  parties  who  had  planned  the  expedition  should  be  punished, 
in  order  to  deter  other  persons  from  making  settlements  on  territo- 
ries long  occupied  and  frequented  by  the  Spaniards ;  and  he  at  the 
same  time  complained  of  the  trade  and  fishery,  by  British  subjects, 
in  the  seas  adjoining  the  Spanish  American  continent  on  the  west, 
as  contrary  to  the  rights  of  Spain,  guarantied  by  Great  Britain  in 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  respected  by  all  European  nations.  To 
this  the  British  ministers  answered,  on  the  26th,  that,  although  they 
had  not  received  exact  information  as  to  the  facts  stated  by  the 


1790.] 


DISCUSSIONS    IN    LONDON. 


203 


nmbassndor,  yet  the  act  of  violence  against  British  subjects  described 
in  his  note  necessarily  suspended  all  discussion  of  the  claims  ad- 
viinced  by  him,  until  adequate  atonement  shoidd  have  been  made 
for  the  outrage.  In  the  mean  time,  thoy  domandcd  the  immediate 
lostoration  of  the  vessel  seized,  reserving  further  proceedings  on  the 
subject  until  more  complete  details  of  the  circumstances  could  be 
obtained. 

This  unexpected  answer,  with  other  circumstances,  induced  the 
Spanish  cabinet  to  suspect  that  more  was  meant  than  had  been 
openly  declared  by  Great  Britain  ;  that  this  power  was,  in  fact,  only 
seeking  an  occasion  to  break  the  peace  with  Spain  for  some  ulte- 
rior object :  and,  under  the  influence  of  this  suspicion,  preparations 
for  war  were  commenced  in  all  the  naval  arsenals  of  the  latter  king- 
dom. The  king  of  Spain  being,  however,  anxious  to  prevent  a 
rupture,  if  possible,  his  ambassador  at  London  addressed  another 
note  to  the  British  government  in  April,  declaring  that,  although 
the  Spanish  crown  had  an  indubitable  right  to  the  continent,  islands, 
harbors,  and  coasts,  of  America  on  the  Pacific,  founiled  upon  trea- 
ties and  immemorial  possession,  yet,  as  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  had 
released  the  vessel  sei/.(!d  at  Nootka,  his  Catholic  majesty  regarded 
the  atVair  as  concluded,  without  entering  into  any  dispiitcs  and  dis- 
cussions on  the  undoubted  rights  of  SfMiin  ;  and,  desiring  to  give  a 
proof  of  his  friendship  for  Great  Britain,  he  should  rest  satisfied,  if 
lior  subjects  were  commanded  to  respect  those  rights  in  future. 

This  last  communication  was  received  al)ont  the  time  when 
Mearcs  arrived  in  London  from  China  :  and  the  information  brought 
hy  him  was  not  calculated  to  render  the  British  government  inclined 
to  accept  the  pacific  overture  of  Spain.  On  the  contrary,  onlers 
wore  issued  for  arming  two  large  fleets,  and  the  whole  aflhir,  which 
had  been  previously  kept  secret,  was  submitted  to  Parliament  by  a 
message  from  the  king  on  the  .jth  of  May. 

In  this  message,  his  majesty  states  that  two  vessels,  belonging  to 
his  subjects,  and  navigated  under  the  British  flag,  and  two  others, 
of  which  the  description  was  not  then  sufficiently  ascertained,  had 
been  captured  at  Nootka  Sound,  by  an  officer  commanding  two 
Spanish  ships  of  war ;  the  cargoes  of  the  two  British  vessels  had 
been  seized,  and  their  crews  had  been  sent  as  prisoners  to  a  Span- 
ish nort; —  that,  as  soon  as  ho  had  been  informed  of  the  capture 
of  one  of  these  vessels,  he  had  ordered  a  demand  to  be  made  for 
her  restitution,  and  for  adequate  satisfaction,  previous  to  any  other 
discussion ;  from  the  answer  to  which  demand,  it  appeared  that  the 


5! 


I' 


1  "I- 

■  \l 


>\  \ 


n 


'in 


if'!.' 


'v'-  ■ 


li'   (I ;   it  1 


ill 


ff^  ^  HiMjf  jij 


m^ 


204 


TIIR    KINO    OP    ENGLAND  S    MESSAGE. 


[1790. 


vessel  and  her  crew  had  been  Hberatcd  by  the  viceroy  of  Mexico, 
on  the  supposition,  however,  thnt  ignorance  of  the  rights  of  Spuin 
nlone  induced  individuals  of  other  nations  to  frequent  those  coiiHts, 
for  the  purposes  of  tra<le  an<l  settlement ;  —  but  that  no  satisfaction 
was  made  or  otfcred  by  Spain,  and  a  direct  claim  was  asserted  by 
her  government  to  the  exclusive  rights  of  sovereignty,  navigation, 
and  commerce,  in  the  territories,  coasts,  and  sens,  of  that  part  of  tin; 
world.  In  consequence  of  all  which,  his  majesty  had  directed  lijs 
minister  at  Madrid  to  make  a  fresh  representation  on  the  subject, 
and  to  claim  such  full  and  ode(]uate  satisfaction  as  the  nature  of  the 
case  evidently  required.  Having,  moreover,  been  informed  that 
considerable  armaments  were  in  progress  in  the  ports  of  Spain,  Im 
had  judged  it  indispensable  to  make  preparations  for  acting  witli 
vigor  and  effect  in  support  of  the  honor  of  his  crown,  and  the  inter- 
ests of  his  people ;  and  he  recommended  thnt  Parliament  slionld 
enable  him  to  take  such  other  measures,  and  to  make  such  nn<;- 
mentations  of  his  forces,  us  might  be  eventually  re(iuisitc  for  this 
purpose.* 

The  recommendations  in  this  message  were  received  with  ?vory 
mark  of  concurrence  in  Parliament  and  throughout  the  kingdom ; 
the  supplies  were  immediately  voted,  and  the  preparations  for  wnr 
were  continued  with  unexampled  activity.  On  the  day  in  vviiicli 
the  message  was  sent,  a  note  was  addressed  to  the  Spanish  uinhas- 
sador  at  London,  containing  a  reiteration  of  the  demands  previously 
made,  and  of  the  declaration  that,  until  those  demands  should  linv(! 
been  satisfied,  the  question  of  the  rights  of  Spain  would  not  be  dis- 
cussed. "  His  majesty,"  ssiys  the  note,  "  will  take  the  most  effectual 
pacific  measures  to  prevent  his  subjects  from  trespassing  on  the  just 
and  acknowledged  rights  of  Spain :  but  he  cannot  accede  to  the 
pretensions  of  absolute  sovereignty,  commerce,  and  navigation. 
which  appeared  to  be  the  principal  objects  of  the  last  note  from 
the  Spanish  ambassador ;  and  he  considers  it  his  duty  to  protect  his 
subjects  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  right  of  fishery  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean."  The  British  Charge  d'affaires  at  Madrid  also  present(!(l,  in 
the  name  of  his  government,  formal  demands  for  the  restitution  of 
the  other  vessel  [the  Princess  Royal]  and  cargo  seized  at  Nootka, 
and  for  reparation  of  the  losses  and  injuries  sustained  by  the  British 
subjects  trading  in  the  North  Pacific  under  the  British  flag ;  asserting, 

*  This  rneasage,  and  all  the  other  oiHcial  documents  relative  to  the  discussion 
which  have  been  published,  will  be  found  in  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  under  the 
letter  U. 


1790.] 


DEMANDS    or    TIIR    DniTISli    QOVERNNGNT. 


303 


at  the  samo  time,  as  a  priiiciplo  which  would  bo  maintained  by  his 
poverrimcnt,  that  *'  British  subjects  have  an  indisputable,  right  to  the 
enjoyment  of  a  free  and  uninterrupted  Jiavigation,  commerce,  and  fuh- 
try,  and  to  the  possession  of  such  establishments  as  they  should  form, 
will)  the  consent  of  the  natives  of  the  country,  not  previously  occu- 
pied by  ony  of  the  European  nations." 

To  these  formal  exactions  of  the  British  government,  the  court  of 
Madrid  replied,  ut  tirst  indirectly,  l>y  a  circular  letter  addressed,  on 
the  4th  of  June,  to  all  the  other  c<  urts  of  Europe.  This  letter  was 
couched  in  the  most  conciliatory  lunj^uago :  it  contained  a  recapitu- 
lation of  the  circumstances  of  the  dispute,  according  to  the  views 
of  Spain  ;  denying  all  intention,  on  her  part,  to  commit  or  defend 
any  act  of  injustice  against  Great  Britain,  or  o  claim  any  rights 
which  did  not  rest  upon  irrefragable  titles ;  insisting  that  the  cap- 
ture of  the  British  vessel  had  been  repaired  by  the  conduct  of  the 
viceroy  of  Mexico  in  immediately  restoring  her ;  and  declaring  the 
readiness  of  his  Catholic  majesty  to  satisfy  any  demands  which 
should  prove  to  be  well  founded,  after  an  investigati  n  of  the  ques- 
tion of  right  between  the  two  crowns.  This  reply  not  being  con- 
sidered sufficient  l)y  the  British  ambassador,  a  Memorial  was  deliv- 
ered to  him,  on  the  13th  of  the  same  month,  by  count  de  Florida 
Blanca,  the  Spanish  minister  of  state,  not  diHering  essentially  in  its 
import  from  the  circular  letter ;  which,  however,  served  only  to 
render  the  ambassador  still  more  urgent  for  a  specific  answer  to  the 
(loniands  of  his  government.  At  length,  after  repeated  conferences, 
tlic  Spanish  minister,  on  the  18th,  officially  signified  that  his  sove- 
reign, having  approved  the  restitution  of  all  the  vessels  and  their  car- 
goes sei/edat  Nootka.  was  willing  to  indemnify  the  owners  for  their 
losses,  and  also  to  make  satisfaction  for  the  insult  to  the  dignity  of 
the  British  crown  ;  provided,  that  the  extent  of  the  insult  and  of  the 
satisfaction  should  be  settled,  in  form  and  substance,  either  by  ono 
of  the  kings  of  Europe,  to  be  selected  by  his  Britannic  majesty,  or 
by  a  negotiation  between  the  two  governments,  in  which  no  facts 
were  to  be  admitted  as  true,  except  such  as  were  fully  established ; 
and  that  no  inference  atrecting  the  rights  of  Spain  should  be  drawn 
from  the  act  of  giving  satisfaction. 

This  offer  of  reparation  was  accepted  by  the  court  of  London ; 
and,  on  the  24th  of  July,  count  de  Florida  Blanca  presented  to 
Mr.  Fitzherbert,  the  British  ambassador  at  Madrid,  a  Dcclarntiony 
in  the  name  of  his  sovereign,  to  the  etTect  —  that  he  would  restore 
the  vessels  and  indemnify  the  owners  for  their  losses,  so  soon  as  the 


•I 


*\i 


'  '\ 


21 

'W 

Ll 

!  ||| 

11!  Ill 

1 

•t: 

1 

■  '         i 
:  ■ 

i 

m 


ill 


lii; 


i 


I 


206 


DECLARATION    OF    THE    SPANISH    GOVERNMENT. 


[1790. 


amount  should  have  been  ascertained,  and  would  give  satisfaction 
to  his  Britannic  majesty  for  the  injury  of  which  lie  had  complained  • 
and  this  Declaration,  together  with  the  performance  of  the  engage- 
ments made  in  it,  was  admitted  by  the  ambassador  in  his  Counter 
Declaration,*  as  full  and  entire  satisfaction  for  those  injuries :  it  be- 
ing, however,  at  the  same  time  admitted  and  expressed  on  both 
sides,  that  the  Spanish  '*  Declaration  was  not  to  preclude  or  prcju- 
dice  the  ulterior  discussion  of  any  right  which  his  Catholic  majesty 
might  claim  to  form  an  exclusive  establishment  at  Nootka  Sound." + 
The  affair  had  thus  far  proceeded,  nearly  in  the  same  course  as 
that  of  the  expulsion  of  the  British  from  the  Falkland  Islands,  twen- 
ty years  previous ;  and  the  government  of  Madrid  probably  expected 
that  it  would  have  been  terminated  in  the  same  manner.  But  Mr. 
Pitt,  then  in  the  fulness  of  his  power  in  England,  had  inherited  lijs 
father's  hatred  for  and  contempt  of  the  Spanish  nation ;  and  he  was 
determined  either  to  bend  their  government  to  his  views,  or  to 
strike  a  decisive  blow  at  their  empire.  H^.  had  already,  in  an 
inconceivjibly  short  space  of  time,  assembled  a  mighty  armament, 
which  he  intended,  in  the  event  of  a  war,  to  direct  against  the 
Spanish  possessions  in  America,  for  the  purpose  of  wresting  those 
countries  from  their  actual  rulers,  either  by  conquest  or  by  internal 
revolution  ;f  and,  having  assumed  this  position,  he  did  not  Jicsitatc 
to  require  from  Spain  the  surrender  of  many  of  the  exclusive  rights 
with  regard  to  navigation,  commerce,  and  territorial  sovereignty, 
upon  which  her  dominion  in  the  western  continent  was  supposed, 
with  reason,  to  depend.  The  negotiation  on  the  subject  of  these 
demands  was  continued  at  Madrid  for  three  montlis  after  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Spanish  Declaration  ;  during  which  period  couriers 
were  constantly  flying  between  that  city  and  London,  and  the  whole 

*  The  Declaration  and  Counter  Declaration  may  bo  found  among  the  documents 
connected  with  the  discussion,  in  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  under  the  letter  D. 

It  may  be  hero  mentioned  that  the  amount  of  the  imlemnification  tor  the  seizures 
at  Nootka  was,  after  a  long  negotiation  on  the  subject,  finally  settled  by  a  ('onuuissinn 
of  subjects  of  both  nations,  appointed  for  the  purpose,  who,  in  17!tii,  awarded  to  thn 
proprietors  of  the  property  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  ten  thousand  dollars  —  a  third 
of  the  amount  demanded  by  Meares,  but  undoubtedly  far  more  than  was  justly  due. 

t  Mr.  Pitt's  scheme  for  detaching  from  Spain  her  transatlantic  dominions  is  br- 
lieved,  with  reason,  to  have  been  suggested  to  him  by  Francisco  Miranda,  a  native 
of  Caraccas,  through  whoso  agency  a  number  of  exiles  and  fugitives  from  tliose 
countries,  including  many  of  the  expelled  Jesuits,  were  engaged  in  the  plan,  and  cor- 
respondences were  commenced  with  the  princij>al  persons  inclined  to  a  separation 
from  Sjjain  in  all  parts  of  her  American  territories.  On  this  subject,  many  curious 
particulars  may  be  found  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  for  Jaimary,  IriOi).  The  subse- 
quent history  and  the  melancholy  fate  of  Miranda  are  well  known. 


1790.] 


SPAIN    APPLIES    FOR    AID    TO    FRANCE. 


20T 


civilized  world  was  in  suspense  and  anxiety  as  to  the  issue.  The 
particulars  of  the  negotiation  have  never  been  officially  made  public ; 
and  we  are  therefore  only  able  to  form  suppositions  as  to  its  nature 
and  course  from  its  result,  and  from  other  circumstances  connected 
with  the  dispute.  The  manner  in  which  that  result  was  effected 
appears,  however,  to  have  been  as  follows :  — 

As  soon  as  the  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  and  the 
preparations  of  those  powers  for  war,  became  known,  King  Louis 
XVI.  of  France  ordered  fourteen  sail  of  the  line  to  be  equipped  for 
active  service  ;  cither  in  consequence  of  an  application  for  aid  from 
Spain,  or  in  order  to  be  ready  to  meet  contingencies.  He  was, 
however,  under  the  necessity  of  communicating  this  measure  to  the 
National  Assembly,  then  in  session,  which  seized  the  occasion  to 
deprive  the  crown  of  one  of  its  most  essential  attributes.  On  the 
•24th  of  May,  a  decree  was  passed  by  that  body,  establishing  that 
the  right  to  make  war  or  peace  belonged  to  the  nation,  and  could 
only  be  exercised  through  the  concurrence  of  the  legislative  and  the 
executive  branches  of  the  government ;  and  that  no  treaty  with  an- 
otlier  power  could  have  effect  until  it  had  been  ratified  by  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  nation :  a  committee  was  at  the  same  time 
appointed  to  examine  and  report  upon  all  the  existing  treaties  of 
alliance  between  France  and  other  nations.  This  decree  was  itself 
equivalent  to  an  annulment  of  the  Family  Compact  between  the 
sovereigns  of  the  house  of  Bourbon :  nevertheless,  when  the  king 
of  Spain  found  himself  pressed  by  Great  Britain  to  relinquish  his 
exclusive  pretensions  with  regard  to  America,  he  formally  applied 
to  his  cousin  of  France  for  aid,  agreeably  to  that  compact,  in  resist- 
ing those  demands ;  declaring,  at  the  same  time,  that,  unless  the 
assistance  should  be  given  speedily  and  effectually,  "  Spain  would 
be  under  the  necessity  of  seeking  other  friends  and  allies  among  all 
the  powers  of  Europe,  without  excepting  any  on  whom  she  could 
rely  in  case  of  need." 

The  letter  of  the  king  of  Spain  was  submitted  by  Louis  XVL  to 
the  National  Assembly,  by  which  it  was  referred  to  the  committee 
appointed  to  examine  the  existing  treaties  between  France  and 
other  nations ;  and,  in  the  name  of  that  committee,  the  celebrated 
Mirabeau,  on  the  24th  of  August,  presented  a  luminous  report,  in- 
cluding considerations  of  the  character  of  the  Family  Compact  and 
other  engagements  between  France  and  Spain,  and  a  view  of 
the  actual  positions  of  Spain  and  Great  Britain  towards  each 
other  and  towards  France.      The  questions  raised  by  this  report 


m 


I:  h 


} 


%m 


i|  I,  }\ 


t^«'' 


208 


DECREE    OF    THE    NATIONAL    ASSEMBLY. 


[1790. 


were  debated,*  with  great  display  of  eloquence  and  political  wis- 
dom, by  Mirabeau,  the  Abbe  Maury,  Lameth,  Barnave,  and  other 
distinguished  members  of  the  Assembly :  and  it  was  decreed  that 
France,  while  taking  proper  measures  to  maintain  peace,  should 
observe  the  existing  commercial  and  defensive  engagements  between 
l:er  government  and  that  of  Spain :  but  that  a  new  and  national 
treaty  should  be  immediately  negotiated,  wherein  the  relations  of 
the  two  countries  towards  each  other  should  be  defined  and  fixed 
with  precision  and  clearness,  agreeably  to  the  views  of  general 
peace,  and  the  principles  of  justice,  which  were,  in  future,  to  prevail 
in  France ;  and  that,  taking  into  consideration  the  armaments  then 
in  progress  throughout  Europe,  and  the  dangers  to  which  the 
commerce  and  colonies  of  France  might  be  exposed,  the  marine 
force  of  the  kingdom  should  be  increased,  without  delay,  to  forty- 
five  sail  of  the  line,  and  a  proportionate  number  of  frigates. 

Although  this  decree  contained  no  direct  promise  of  assistance 
to  Spain,  yet  it  showed  that  the  French  government  penetrated 
the  designs  of  the  British,  and  considered  them  inimical  to  its  own 
interests ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  report,  on  which  the  decree 
was  based,  evinced  an  ardent  desire,  on  the  part  of  the  French 
reformers,  to  preserve  peace.  Meanwhile,  revolutionary,  anti- 
monarchical  principles  were  rapidly  spreading,  not  only  through 
France,  but  in  all  the  surrounding  countries,  and  even  in  England. 
The  Dutch,  who  had  engaged  to  assist  the  British  with  a  fle  it,  in 
case  of  a  war  with  Spain,  found  their  forces  necessary  at  home; 
and  Sweden,  having,  much  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  court  of 
London,  made  peace  with  Russia,  the  latter  power  was  left  at 
liberty  to  prosecute  its  schemes  for  the  dismemberment  of  "  Eng- 
land's old  ally,"  Turkey.  Moreover,  the  financial  condition  of 
Great  Britain  was  not  such  as  to  encourage  her  government  to 
begin  a  war,  which  would,  in  all  probability,  become  general. 
Under  these  circumstances,  Mr.  Pitt's  views  were  necessarily 
changed  ;  and  peace,  and  even  alliance,  with  Spain  were  considered 
preferable  to  a  rupture  with  that  power.  He  therefore  commis- 
sioned a  gentleman  at  Paris,  upon  whom  he  could  rely,  to  sound 
Mirabeau,  and  other  leaders  of  the  National  Assembly  ;  and,  having 
reason  to  believe  them  sincerely  anxious  to  prevent  hostilities,  he 
instructed  his  agent  to  propose  a  secret  negotiation,  to  be  carried 
on  through  the  medium  of  the  French  government,  for  the  restora- 
tion of  a  good  understanding  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain. 


1  .  i\ 

I'  i  it 


Paris  Moniteur  for  August  25th,  and  succeeding  numbers. 


1790.] 


TEKMINATION    OF    THE    DISPUTE. 


209 


In  the  letter  of  instructions  from  Mr.  Pitt  to  his  agent  at  Paris,* 
he  declares  it  to  be  essential  that "  the  French  should  not  appear  in 
the  business  as  mediators,  still  less  as  arbitrators,"  and  that  no  en- 
couragement should  be  given  to  them  to  propose  any  other  terms 
than  those  on  which  Great  Britain  had  already  insisted ;  that, 
<'\vliatever  confidential  communications  may  take  place  with  the 
diplomatic  committee  of  the  National  Assembly,  for  the  sake  of 
bringing  them  to  promote  the  views  of  Great  Britain,  no  ostensible 
intercourse  could  be  admitted,  except  through  accredited  minis- 
ters;" and  especially  that  "no  assurances  be  given,  directly  or 
indirectly,  which  go  further  than  that  Great  Britain  means  to  perse- 
vere in  the  neutrality  which  she  has  hitherto  observed  with  respect 
to  the  internal  dissensions  of  France,  and  is  desirous  to  cultivate 
peace  and  friendly  relations  with  that  country."  The  agent,  thus 
instructed,  presented  himself  to  the  diplomatic  committee  of  the 
National  Assembly,  which  at  once  resolved  to  do  all  in  its  power 
to  strengthen  the  relations  with  England,  and  to  prevent  a  war,  if 
possible  ;  and,  with  this  view,  three  of  its  most  influential  members, 
Freteau,  Barnave,  and  Menou,  were  deputed  to  conduct  the  busi- 
ness on  its  part.  These  members  conferred  with  the  British  agent, 
and  also  with  M.  dc  Montmorin,  the  minister  of  foreign  relations  of 
France,  who  conununicated  directly  with  the  Spanish  government ; 
and  in  this  manner  the  controversy  was  brought  to  a  close,  by  a 
convention  signed,  at  the  palace  of  the  Escurial,  on  the  28th  of 
October,  by  Mr.  Fitzherbert,  the  British  ambassador,  and  count  de 
Florida  Blanca  on  the  part  of  Spain. 

This  convention,  commonly  called  the  Xootka  treaty,  contains 
eight  articles,  of  which  the  substance  is  as  follows :  — 

With  respect  to  the  circumstances  which  occasioned  the  dispute, 
it  was  stipulated,  by  the  first  and  second  articles,  that  the  build- 
ings and  tracts  of  land,  on  the  north-west  coasts  of  America, 
of  which  British  subjects  were  dispossessed  by  a  Spanish  officer, 
^^  about  the  month  of  April,  1789,"  shall  be  restored  ;  a  just  repara- 
tion shall  be  made  for  all  acts  of  violence  or  hostility  connnitted  by 
the  subjects  of  either  party  against  those  of  the  other,  "  subsequent 
to  the  month  of  April,  1789;"  and,  in  case  the  subjects  of  either 
should  have  been,  *'  since  the  same  period,^'  forcibly  dispossessed  of 
their  lands,  vessels,  or  other  property  on  the  American  coasts,  or  the 


il*'- 


•t^#tt 


n 


I 


il^    i 


.   •.Hi- 


•fi'iili'jf! 


■  Ji 


•  The  whole  letter  is  given  by  Qishop  Tomline,  in  his  Life  of  Pitt,  chap.  xii.  The 
name  of  the  person  to  wliom  it  is  addressed  does  not  appear ;  he  is  simply  mentioned 
as  "a  gentleman  resident  at  Paris,  of  considerable  diplomatic  experience." 

27 


■■'  I '!  R  ' 
mS  (1 '  r 

rifl  ^'3 ' ''  ' 


li 


.  i  iH\ 


hi" 


310 


NOOTKA    CONVKNTION. 


[1790. 


adjoining  seas,  they  shall  be  rec'Stablished  in  the  possession  thereof 
or  a  just  compensation  shall  be  made  to  them  for  their  losses, 

For  the  future,  it  was  agreed,  by  the  third  article  of  the  conven- 
tion, that  the  subjects  of  the  two  parties  shall  not  be  disturbed  in 
navigating  or  fishing  in  the  South  Seas,  or  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  in 
landing  on  the  coasts  thereof,  in  places  not  already  occupied,  for 
the  purposes  of  settlement  or  of  trade  with  the  natives ;  the  whole 
subject,  nevertheless,  to  the  restrictions  specified  in  the  three 
following  articles,  to  wit :  —  that  Jiis  Britannic  majesty  shall  take 
the  most  effectual  means  to  prevent  his  subjects  from  making  their 
navigation  or  fishery  in  those  seas  a  pretext  for  illicit  trade  with 
the  Spanish  settlements ;  with  which  view  it  is  agreed  that  British 
subjects  shall  not  navigate  or  fish  within  ten  leagues  of  any  part  of 
the  coast  already  occupied  by  Spain ;  that  the  subjects  of  both 
nations  shall  have  free  access  and  right  of  trading  in  the  places 
restored  to  British  subjects  by  this  convention,  and  in  any  other 
parts  of  the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  north  of  the  places 
already  occupied  by  Spain,  where  the  subjects  of  either  party  shall 
have  made  settlements  since  the  month  of  April,  1789,  or  may  in 
future  make  any ;  and  that  no  settlement  shall  in  future  be  made, 
by  the  subjects  of  either  power,  on  the  eastern  or  the  western  coasts 
of  South  America,  or  the  adjacent  islands,  south  of  the  parts  of 
the  same  coasts  or  islands  already  occupied  by  Spain ;  though  the 
subjects  of  both  remained  at  liberty  to  land  on  those  coasts  and 
islands,  and  to  erect  temporary  buildings  only,  for  the  purposes  of 
their  fishery. 

Finally,  it  was  agreed,  by  the  seventh  article,  that,  in  cases  of 
infraction  of  the  convention,  the  officers  of  either  party  shall,  with- 
out committing  any  act  of  violence  themselves,  make  an  exact 
report  of  the  affair  to  their  respective  governments,  which  woidd 
terminate  such  differences  in  an  amicable  manner.  The  eii,'hth 
article  relates  merely  to  the  time  of  ratification  of  the  convention.* 

The  convention,  together  with  the  declaration  and  counter 
declaration  preceding  it,  were  submitted  to  Parliament  on  the  3d 
of  December,  unaccompanied  by  any  other  papers  relative  to  the 
negotiation ;  and  they  became  the  subjects  of  animated  debates,  in 
which  the  most  distinguished  members  of  both  houses  took  parts. 
The  arrangements  were  extolled  by  the  ministers  and  their  friends 
in   general  terms,  as  vindicating  the   dignity  of  the  nation,  and 


/Hi 


*  The  convention  will  be  found  at  length  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in 
the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  K,  No.  1. 


1790.] 


NOOTKA  CONVENTION  BEFORE  PARLIAMENT. 


211 


1' 


Illustrations,  in 


providing  reparation  for  the  injuries  sustained  by  its  subjects,  and 
as  securing  to  those  subjects,  in  future,  the  rights  of  navigation  and 
fishery  in  the  Pacific  and  Southern  Oceans,  and  of  settlement  on 
(heir  unoccupied  coasts,  and  establishing  the  long-discussed  ques- 
tions on  those  points,  on  such  grounds  as  must  prevent  all  further 
dispute.  The  opposition,  on  the  other  hand,  contended  that  the 
reparation  promised  by  Spain  was  incomplete  and  insufficient ; 
tliat  the  arrangements  for  the  prevention  of  future  difficulties  were 
merely  culpable  concessions  to  that  power,  whereby  the  rights  of 
British  subjects  were  materially  abridged,  and  the  Spaniards  would 
1)0  encouraged  to  commit  further  acts  of  violence ;  and,  finally, 
that  all  the  advantages  which  could  be  expected  from  the  con- 
vention, even  according  to  the  views  of  the  ministers,  were  far 
below  the  amount  of  the  expense  at  which  they  had  been  obtained. 

It  was  noticed  by  Mr.  Charles  Fox,  as  a  curious  and  inexplicable 
incongruity  in  the  treaty,  that  "  about  the  month  of  April,  1789," 
should  have  been  inserted  as  the  date  of  what  was  known  to  have 
taken  place,  agreeably  to  all  the  evidence  produced,  in  May  of  the 
same  year ;  and  that,  Jilthough,  by  the  first  article,  the  lands  and 
hiiildings  declared  to  have  l)cen  taken  from  IJritish  subjects  by  a 
Spanisli  officer,  ''  about  the  month  of  April,  1789,"  were  to  be 
restored,  yet,  by  the  second  article,  the  lands,  buildings,  and  other 
property,  of  which  the  subjects  of  either  party  had  been  dispos- 
sessed ^^  subsequent  to  the  month  of  April,  1789,"  were  to  be 
restored,  or  compensation  was  to  be  made  to  the  owners  for  the 
losses  which  they  might  have  sustained.  Upon  this  point,  it  will  be 
seen  that,  if  the  word  "  or,"  in  the  concluding  part  of  the  second 
artielc,  were  replaced  by  and.  the  incongruity  would  di.sappear  ; 
hut  then,  also,  the  first  article  would  become  entirely  superfluous. 
It  would,  however,  be  idle  to  suppose  that  any  error  could  have 
been  committed  with  regard  to  matters  so  essential,  or  that  the 
want  of  accordance  between  the  ditferent  provisions  of  the  con- 
vention, noticed  by  Mr.  Fox,  should  have  been  the  result  of  accident 
or  carelessness.  The  ministers,  when  pressed  for  explanations  on 
this  head,  answered,  indirectly,  that  the  Spanish  government  would 
make  the  restitutions  as  agreed  in  the  first  article. 

It  may  here  be  observed,  that  no  notice  whatsoever  of  a  claim, 
on  the  part  of  British  subjects,  to  lands  or  buildings  on  the  north- 
west coast  of  America,  ap|)ears  either  in  the  king's  message  to 
Parliament,  commmiicating  the  fact  of  the  seizures  at  Nootka,  or 


'ii  ti 


^^! 


212 


NOOTKA    CONVENTION    BEFORE    PARLIAMENT. 


[1790. 


t  }'■ 


.'Ml 


in  the  debates  in  Parliament  on  that  message,  or  in  the  official 
correspondence  between  the  two  governments  on  the  subject,  so  far 
as  published ;  and  the  only  evidence  of  such  acquisition  of  lands  or 
erection  of  buildings  to  be  found  among  the  documents  annexed  to 
the  Memorial  presented  by  Meares  to  the  ministry,  is  contained  in 
the  infonnation  of  William  Graham,  a  seaman  of  the  Felice,  which 
was  taken  in  London  Jive  days  after  the  date  of  the  Memorial, 
"  The  statement  of  actual  and  j)robable  losses,"  for  which  the  memo- 
rialists  prayed  to  be  indemnified,  to  the  amount  of  six  hundred  ami 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  is,  moreover,  confined  entirely  to  losses  con- 
sequent  upon  the  seizure  of  the  vessels  and  cargoes  at  Nontka. 
This  silence,  with  regard  to  lands  and  buildings,  in  all  the  docu- 
ments brought  from  Cliina  by  jNIoares,  certainly  authorizes  the 
suspicion  that  the  idea  of  advancing  a  claim  on  those  points  nmv 
have  occurred  to  thjit  gentleman,  or  may  have  been  suggested 
to  him  after  his  arrival  in  England,  and  even  after  his  first  commii- 
nications  with  the  ministers. 

With  respect  to  the  rights  of  navigation  and  fishery  in  the  Pacit'ic 
and  Southern  Oceans,  and  of  settlement  on  their  unoccupied  coasi-., 
it  was  insisted  by  Fox,  Grr  /,  the  marquis  of  Lansdowne,  and  other 
eminent  members  of  the  opposition  in  Parliament,  that  nothiiii.r 
had  been  gained,  but,  on  the  contrary,  much  had  been  surrendorcd. 
by  the  convention.  "  Our  right,  before  the  convention,"  said  Mr.  Fox, 
—  ^' ivhether  admitted  or  denied  hj  Spain  was  of  no  consequence, — 
was  to  settle  in  any  part  of  South  or  North- West  America,  not  for- 
tified against  us  by  previous  occupancy  ;  and  we  were  now  restrict- 
ed to  settle  in  certain  places  only,  and  under  certain  conditions. 
Our  rights  of  fishing  extended  to  the  whole  ocean  ;  and  now  it  was 
limited,  and  not  to  be  exercised  within  certain  distances  of  the 
Spanish  settlements.  Our  right  of  making  settlements  was  not,  as 
now,  a  right  to  build  huts,  but  to  plant  colonies,  if  we  thought 
proper.  In  renouncing  all  right  to  make  settlements  in  South 
America,  we  had  given  to  Spain  what  slie  considered  as  inestima- 
ble, and  had,  in  return,  been  contented  witli  dross."  "  In  every 
place  in  which  we  might  settle,"  said  Grey,  "  access  was  left  for  tiic 
Spaniards.  W'lere  we  might  form  a  settlement  on  one  hill,  they 
might  erect  a  fort  on  another ;  and  a  merchant  must  run  all  the 
risks  of  a  discovery,  and  all  the  expenses  of  an  establislnnent,  for  a 
property  which  was  liable  to  be  tlie  subject  of  continual  dispute, 
and  could  never  be  placed  upon  a  permanent  footing." 


i    •    !. 


1790.] 


REVIEW    OF    THE    NOOTKA    CONVENTION. 


213 


As  to  the  utility  of  the  convention  in  preventing  disputes  in 
future  between  the  two  nations,  Mr.  Fox  was  wholly  incredulous ; 
and  he  predicted  that  difficulties  would  soon  arise  (as  they  did) 
from  the  impossibility  of  devising  and  enforcing  any  measures  on 
tlie  part  of  Great  Britain,  which  could  be  considered  "  effectual"  in 
checking  illicit  trade  between  British  subjects  and  the  Spanish  set- 
tlements in  America.  "  This  treaty,"  says  he,  in  conclusion,  "  re- 
minds me  of  a  lawyer's  will,  drawn  by  himself,  with  a  note  in  the 
margin  of  a  particular  clause  — '  This  will  afford  room  for  an  excel- 
lent disquisition  in  the  Court  of  Chancery.'  With  equal  propriety, 
and  full  as  much  truth,  might  those  who  had  extolled  the  late  nego- 
tiation, for  the  occasion  it  had  given  to  show  the  vigor  and  prompt- 
itude of  the  national  resources,  write  in  the  margin  of  most  of  the 
articles  of  the  convention  —  *  This  tvill  afford  an  admirable  oppor- 
umitij  for  a  future  display  of  the  power  and  energy  of  Great 
Britain.' " 

To  all  these  objections  the  ministers  and  their  friends  gave  only 
short,  general,  and  evasive  answers.  Their  great  majorities  in  both 
houses  enabled  them  to  dispense  with  arguments,  and  to  evade  the 
calls  for  information  or  papers  relating  to  the  transaction  ;  and, 
JKiviiip:  triumphantly  carried  their  vote  of  thanks  to  the  sovereign, 
they  were  left  at  liberty  to  execute  the  new  engagements,  according 
to  tiieir  own  construction,  for  which  they  had  certainly  provided 
themselves  with  ample  space. 

As  the  convention  of  October,  1790,  was  the  first  diplomatic  ar- 
ran<i;emcnt  between  the  governments  of  civilized  nations  with  regard 
to  the  north-west  coast  of  North  America,  its  conclusion  forms  an 
important  era  in  the  history  of  that  part  of  the  world.  On  exam- 
ining its  stipulations,  we  shall  see  that  they  were  calculated 
to  produce  very  few  and  slight  changes  in  any  way,  and  that 
tiiosc  changes  were  not,  upon  the  whole,  disadvantageous  to  the 
real  interests  of  Spain.  The  exclusive  navigfition  of  the  Pacific  and 
Southern  Oceans,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  vacant  territories  of 
America  bordering  upon  them,  were  claimed  by  Spain,  only  with 
the  object  of  preventing  other  nations  from  intercourse  with  her 
settlements  ;  as  her  government  foresaw  that  such  intercourse,  par- 
ticularly with  the  British,  who  had  for  more  than  two  centuries 
been  striving  to  establish  it,  would  be  fatal  to  the  subsistence  of 
Spanish  supremacy  over  those  dominions.  By  the  convention,  both 
parties  were  admitted,  ecjually,  to  navigate  and  fish  in  the  above- 


■  ■■  ■  \ 

■-i 

1 

i 

1 

i    ■ 

:             j 

■f--)Mi 

:    ; 

.  ;:||l 

.;1 

S.,^  II- 


"W 


i-  m' 


1"  ■ ; 


;  \ 


214 


REVIEW    OF    THE    NOOTKA    CONVENTION, 


[1790. 


'  So  r!  '  '■ 


'V  i 


(- 


named  seas ;  but  the  British  were,  at  the  same  time,  specially  pro- 
hibited from  approaching  the  territories  under  the  actual  authority 
of  Spain,  and  were  thus  debarred  from  the  exercise  of  a  privilege 
advantageous  to  themselves  and  most  annoying  to  Spain,  whicli 
they  previously  possessed  in  virtue  of  their  maritime  superiority. 
Both  parties  were  by  the  convention  equally  excluded  from  scttlin<' 
on  the  vacant  coasts  of  South  America,  and  from  exercising  that 
jurisdiction  which  is  essential  to  political  sovereignty,  over  any  spot 
north  of  the  most  northern  Spanish  settlement  on  the  Pacific  :  but 
the  British  and  the  Russians  were  the  only  nations  who  would  be 
likfc'.y  to  occupy  any  of  those  territories,  and  the  British  would  not. 
probably,  concede  to  the  Russians  any  rights  greater  than  thoso 
which  they  themselves  possessed  ;  and  any  establisliment  which 
either  of  those  powers  might  form  in  the  north,  under  circunistancfs 
so  disadvantageous,  would  be  separated  from  the  settled  provinces 
of  Spain  by  a  region  of  mountains,  forests,  and  deserts,  of  mnio 
than  a  thousand  miles  in  extent.  The  convention,  in  fine,  estab- 
lished new  bases  for  the  navigation  and  fishery  of  the  respective 
parties,  and  their  trade  with  the  natives  on  the  tmoccupiod  coasts 
of  America  ;  but  it  determined  nothing  regarding  the  rights  of  either 
to  the  sovereignty  of  any  portion  of  America,  except  so  far  as  it 
may  imply  an  abrogation,  or  rather  a  suspension,  of  all  such  claims. 
on  both  sides,  to  any  of  those  coasts. 

It  is,  however,  probable  that  the  convention  published,  as  the 
result  of  this  negotiation,  did  not  contain  all  the  engagements 
contracted  by  Great  Britain  and  Spain  towards  each  other  on  that 
occasion.  It  was  generally  believed  in  Europe  that  a  secret  treaty 
of  alliance  was  at  the  same  time  signed,  by  which  the  two  nations 
were  bound,  under  certain  contingencies,  to  act  together  against 
France,  with  the  understanding  that  the  stipulations  of  the  conven- 
tion published  should  remain  inoperative ;  and  this  supposition  is 
strengthened  by  the  third  article  of  the  treaty  of  alliance  between 
those  powers,  concluded  on  the  25th  of  May,  1793,  setting  forth 
that,  "  Their  majesties  having  perceived  just  grounds  of  jealousy 
and  uneasiness  for  the  safety  of  their  respective  dominions,  and  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  general  system  of  Europe,  in  the  measures 
which  have  been  for  some  time  past  adopted  by  France,  thci/  had 
already  agreed  to  establish  between  them  an  intimate  and  entire  con- 
cert, upon  the  means  of  opposing  a  sutficient  barrier  to  those  dan- 
gerous views  of  aggression  and  aggrandizement,"  «fec.     It  was  even 


1790.] 


REVIEW  OF  THE  NOOTKA  CONVENTION. 


215 


supposed,  and  insinuations  to  that  cflfect  were  thrown  out  in  the 
debates  in  Parliament  on  the  convention,  that  the  dispute  with  Spain 
was  prolonged  by  Mr.  Pitt  in  order  to  have  a  pretext  for  assem- 
bling a  large  force,  which  might  serve  to  overawe  the  revolutionary 
party  in  France,  and  also  to  suppress  tendencies  of  the  same  nature 
in  England.  The  preparations  for  war  cost  three  millions  of 
pounds  sterling;  but  the  result  proved  that  this  sum  was  wisely 
bestowed ;  for  the  fleets  thus  armed  in  1790  did  '*  yeoman's  ser- 
vice "  under  Howe  four  years  afterwards. 


1 


:i: 


ishcd,  as  the 
engagements 
ther  on  tlwt 
secret  treaty 

two  nations 
!ther  against 

the  conven- 
upposition  is 
ice  between 


; 


••' ifc'fc-i  '. 


•  '1M 

»  -It 


(:;  *i 


i  iiJ 

i 

1;.    f' 

1; 

>     f'     ii 

issht    1! 

,  'j  ' 

Ill    1 

:    ii   ij 

jRH       B'h 

^i.. 

1 

i 

Ft 

K 

1' 

't 

! 

' 

j|i  :  ^ 

. 

J 

■ 

a  16 


HI 


CHAPTER    X. 


1790  TO  1792. 


Vancouver  sent  by  the  British  (roverninont  to  explore  the  Coasts  of  America,  and 
receive  Possession  of  Lands  and  Buildings  agreeably  to  the  Convention  witii 
Spain  —  Passage  of  the  Washington,  under  Kendrick,  through  the  Strait  of  Fuca, 
in  178!) — Nootka  reoccupied  by  the  Spaniards — Voyages  of  Fidalgo,  Quiniper, 
Elisa,  Billings,  Marchand,  and  Malaspina  —  Voyages  of  the  American  Fur  Tra- 
ders Gray,  Ingraham,  and  Kendrick  —  Discovery  of  the  Washington  Islands  by 
Ingrahani. 


In  execution  of  the  first  and  second  articles  of  the  conven- 
tion of  October,  1790,  between  Spain  and  Great  Britain,  com- 
missioners were  appointed  on  each  side,  who  were  to  meet  at 
Nootka  Sound,  and  there  to  determine  what  lands  and  buildings 
were  to  be  restored  to  the  British  claimants,  or  what  amount  of 
indemnification  was  to  be  made  to  them  by  Spain.  The  Britisli 
government  at  first  selected  Captain  Trowbridge  as  its  agent  for 
this  purpose  ;  but  the  business  was  afterwards  committed  to  Captain 
George  Vancouver,  who  was  then  about  to  sail  on  a  voyage  of  ex- 
ploration to  the  Pacific. 

Vancouver  was  instructed  to  examine  and  survey  the  whole 
shores  of  the  American  continent  on  the  Pacific,  from  the  35th  to 
the  60th  parallels  of  latitude ;  to  ascertain  particularly  the  number, 
situation,  and  extent  of  the  settlements  of  civilized  nations  within 
these  limits  ;  and  especially  to  acquire  information  as  to  the  nature 
and  direction  of  any  water-passage,  which  might  serve  as  a  channel 
for  commercial  intercourse  between  that  side  of  America  and  the 
territories  on  the  Atlantic  side  occupied  by  British  subjects.  For 
this  last-mentioned  object,  he  was  particularly  to  "  examine  the  sup- 
posed Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  said  to  be  situated  between  the  48th 
and  the  49th  degrees  of  north  latitude,  and  to  lead  to  an  opening 
through  which  the  sloop  Washington  is  reported  to  have  passed  in 
1789,  and  to  have  come  out  again  to  the  northward  of  Nootka."* 

*  Introduction  to  Vancouver's  narrative  of  his  voyage. 


1791.]       kendrick's  passaor  tiirouoh  fuca's  strait. 


217 


With  these  orders,  Vancouver  sailed  from  England  in  January, 
1791,  in  the  ship  Discovery,  accompanied  by  the  brig  Chatham, 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Robert  Broughton.  The  instruc- 
tions for  his  conduct  as  commissioner  were  afterwards  despatched 
to  him  in  the  store-ship  Dxdahis. 

The  account  of  the  passage  of  the  Washington  through  the  Strait 
of  Fuca,  mentioned  in  the  instructions  to  Vancouver,  had  appeared 
in  the  ^'Observations  on  the  probable  Existence  of  a  JVorth-West 
Passage,^'  prefixed  by  Meares  to  the  narrative  of  his  voyages,  which 
had  then  been  recently  pubHshed  at  London.  Meares  there  says, 
"  The  Washington  entered  the  Straits  of  John  de  Fuca,  the  knowl- 
edge of  which  she  had  received  from  us ;  and,  penetrating  up  them, 
entered  into  an  extensive  sea,  where  she  steered  to  the  northward 
and  eastward,  and  had  communications  with  the  various  tribes  who 
inhabit  the  shores  of  the  numerous  islands  that  are  situated  at  the 
back  of  Nootka  Sound,  and  speak,  with  some  little  variation,  the 
language  of  the  Nootkan  people.  The  track  of  this  vessel  is  marked 
on  the  map,  and  is  of  great  mo.nent,  as  it  is  now  completely  ascer- 
tained that  Nootka  Sound  and  the  parts  adjacent  are  islands,  and 
comprehended  within  the  great  northern  archipelago.  The  sea  also 
which  is  seen  to  the  east  is  of  great  extent,  and  it  is  from  this  sta- 
tionary point,  and  the  mtU  westerly  parts  of  Hudson's  Bay,  that  we 
are  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  distance  between  them.  The  most 
easterly  direction  of  the  Washington's  course  is  to  the  longitude  of 
2;J7  degrees  east  of  Greenwich.  It  is  j)robable,  however,  that  the 
master  of  that  vessel  did  not  make  any  astronomical  observations,  to 
give  a  just  idea  of  that  station  ;  but,  as  we  have  those  made  by  Cap- 
tain Cook  at  Nootka  Sound,  we  may  be  able  to  form  a  conjecture, 
somewhat  approaching  the  truth,  concerning  the  distance  between 
Xootka  nnd  the  easternmost  station  of  the  Washington  in  the  north- 
ern archipelago ;  and  consequently  this  station  may  be  presumed  to 
be  in  the  longitude,  or  thereabout,  of  237  degrees  east  of  Green- 
wich." In  another  place,  Meares  speaks  of  the  proofs  brought  by 
the  Washington,  "  which  sailed  through  a  sea  extending  upwards  of 
eight  degrees  of  latitude,"  in  support  of  his  opinion,  that  the  north- 
western portion  of  America  was  a  collection  of  islands :  and  in  the 
chart  annexed,  "  'he  sketch  of  the  trade  of  the  American  sloop  fVash- 
ivgton  in  the  autimn  of  1789,"  is  represented  by  those  words  run- 
ning in  a  semi-oval  line  from  the  southern  entrance  of  the  Strait  of 
Fuca,  at  Cape  Fhttery,  eastwajfd,  to  the  longitude  of  237  degrees, 
then  north- westward,  to  the  55th  parallel  of  latitude,  then  west- 
20 


.■t| 


II 


.    4   :U     l|i 


r , 


U 


S18 


KKNDKICK  a    PASSAGE    TlinOCUII    I'UCA  S    STHAIT. 


11189. 


ward,  throuf^h  the  passage  north  of  Queen  Charlotte's  Island,  to  tlio 
Pacific.  Tiic  sea  throuu;li  wliieh  the  track  extends  is  r('[)r<'Hcntoil 
as  unlimited  in  the  east,  and  conununicatin:,',  in  the  west,  with  the 
Pacific  by  charmels  between  islands :  no  pretensittn  to  aecura(;y  Is, 
however,  made  in  this  |)art  of  the  chart,  the  object  being  merely  to 
show  that  the  Washington  sail(?d  from  the  southern  entrance  of  tlio 
strait  eastward  to  the  longitude  of  237  degrees,  and  northward 
to  the  latitude  of  55  degrees. 

The  name  of  the  person  under  whose  command  the  [)assugc 
was  said  to  have  been  efiected  is  not  given  ;  but,  Gray  being 
frequently  mentioned  by  Meares,  in  his  narrative  and  accomjjanyiug 
papers,  as  the  captain  of  the  Washington,  it  was  naturally  supiiosed 
that,  if  that  sloop  did  pass  through  the  strait,  she  must  have  done  so 
under  the  command  of  Gray ;  and  when  Vancouver,  who  met  Cray 
near  Nootka  in  179*2,  as  will  be  hereafter  related,  was  assured  by 
him  that  he  had  entered  the  opcninff,  hut  had  only  advanced  fij'tij 
miles  within  it,  the  entire  erroncousness  of  the  account  given  by 
Meares  was  regarded  as  established. 

However,  about  the  time  of  Vancouver's  departure  from  Kngland, 
an  angry  discussion  was  carried  on  through  the  medium  of  pum. 
phlets,  between  Meares,  and  Dixon  the  captain  of  the  ship  Queen 
Charlotte,  (ojje  of  the  vessels  sent  to  the  Pacific  by  the  Kiiif.' 
George's  Sound  Company  of  London,)  in  consequence  of  the  se- 
vere remarks  made  by  Meares,  in  his  work,  on  the  character  of 
Dixon,  and  on  many  parts  of  his  journal,  which  had  been  pub- 
lished in  1789.  Dixon,  in  his  first  pamphlet,*  particularly  attacked 
and  i  diculed  the  account  given  by  his  opponent  of  the  passage  ot 
the  Washington,  and  sneeringly  summoned  him  to  "  inform  the 
public  from  what  authority  he  had  introduced  the  track  of  that  ves- 
sel into  his  chart."  To  this  Meares,  in  his  Answer,  f  says,  "  Mr. 
Neville,  a  gentleman  of  the  most  respectable  character,  who  came 
home  in  the  Chesterfield,  a  ship  in  the  service  of  the  East  India 
Company,  made  that  communication  to  me  which  I  have  communi- 
cated to  the  public.  Mr.  Kcndrick,  who  commanded  the  Wash- 
ington, arrived  at  China,  with  a  very  valuable  cargo  of  furs,  previ- 
ous to  the  departure  of  the  Chesterfield ;  and  Mr.  Neville,  who  was 


*  Remarks  on  the  Voyages  of  Jolin  Meares,  in  a  Letter  to  that  Gentleman,  by 
George  Dixon,  late  Commander  of  the  Queen  Charlotte  in  a  Voyage  around  tlip 
World.     London,  1790. 

t  An  Answer  to  Mr.  George  Dixon,  &c.,  b^  John  Meares;  in  which  the  Remarks 
rf  Mr.  Dixon  are  fully  considered  and  refuted.     London,  1791. 


hich  the  Remarks 


1789.]  kenduick's  pamsahk  tiiuoikjh  tiik  stkait  ok  ki;ca.    219 

continually  with  him  during  that  intorvnl,  and  received  the  particu- 
lars of  the  track  from  him,  vviih  ho  ohiiu^in^'  as  to  Htatu  it  to  me." 

Thtiii  it  appears  that  the  passa^'e  of  the  Washington  through  the 
gtrnit,  as  reported  by  Meares,  took  place  under  Kendrick,  after  Gray 
had  (juitted  the  eonunand  of  that  sloop.  This  explanation  was 
published  in  London  subsequent  to  the  departure  of  Vancouver  for 
the  Pdcitic ;  and,  the  discussion  between  Meares  and  Dixon  being 
on  matters  in  which  the  public  could  have  taken  little  or  no  interest, 
it  was  «loubtless  forgotten,  and  their  pamphlets  were  out  of  circu- 
lulion,  long  before  the  return  of  the  navigator  to  England. 

W.ih  regard  to  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  account,  no  infor- 
mation has  been  obtained,  in  addition  to  that  aflbrded  by  Meares ; 
iiiul,  although  little  depend'-nce  can  be  placed  on  his  statements, 
when  unsupported  by  other  evidence,  yet  they  should  not  bo 
reinctcd  in  this  case,  because  — first,  he  had  no  interest  in  ascribing 
anything  meritorious  to  citi/.ens  of  the  Uritcd  States,  whom  he 
uniformly  mentions  with  contempt  or  dislike  in  his  work,  and 
accus»!S  of  taking  part  with  the  Spaniards  against  his  vessels ; 
—  secondly,  the  subject  was  one  with  which  he  was  perfectly  con- 
versant, and  on  which  he  would  not  probably  have  been  deceived, 
or  have  committed  any  error  of  judgment;  and,  —  hstli/,  the  geog- 
raphy of  that  part  of  the  American  coasts  corresponds  exactly  with 
the  descriptions  given  by  Kendrick  of  what  he  had  seen,  though 
the  inferences  drawn  from  them  by  Meares  are  incorrect.  Thus 
the  easternmost  part  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca  is  now  known  to  be  in 
the  meridian  of  52.'i7i  degrees  east  from  Greenwich,  and  under  the 
parallel  of  48^  degrees,  from  the  intersection  of  which  lines  the 
coast  of  the  continent  runs  north-westward,  through  ten  degrees  of 
latitude,  penetrated  by  numerous  inlets,  and  bordered  by  thousands 
of  islands ;  so  that  a  navigiitor,  sailing  along  this  coast,  without 
tracing  to  their  terminations  all  these  channels  and  inlets,  might 
well  have  supposed  himself  in  a  sea  extending  far  on  either  side, 
and  filled  with  islands. 

Under  these  circumstances,  Kendrick  is  to  be  considered  as  the 
first  person,  belonging  to  a  civilized  nation,  who  sailed  through  the 
Strait  of  Fuca,  after  its  discovery  by  the  Greek  pilot,  in  159*2. 

Vancouver  did  not  reach  the  north-west  coasts  of  America  until 
March,  1792.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Spaniards  had  resumed  their 
position  at  Nootka  Sound,  and  formed  another  establishment  in  its 
vicinity ;  and  several  voyages  of  discovery  had  been  made  by  their 
navigators   along   those   coasts.      The    Spanish    government   was, 


1 


i 


i\ 


n\ 


■i:ii 


'hi 


jMlu^ 

||i  ^ 

1 

1 

1 

if 

f 

1 

■ill 

1:!:' 


A 


It  i 


220 


VOYAGE    OF    FIDALGO. 


[1790 


indeed,  then  seriously  directing  its  attention  to  the  discovery  and 
occupation  of  the  territories  north  of  its  settlements  in  California 
agreeably  to  the  plan  devised  in  1765,  and  with  the  same  object 
of  preventing  those  territories  from  falling  into  the  possession  of 
other  nations ;  and,  for  these  purposes,  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  was 
directed  to  employ  every  means  at  his  disposal.  Martinez  was 
indeed,  deprived  of  his  command,  immediately  on  his  arrival  in 
San  Bias,  in  December,  1789:  but  his  vessels,  including  the 
Princess  Royal,  which  had  been  taken  from  the  English  in  the 
preceding  summer,  were  sent  back  to  Nootka  Sound,  under  Cap- 
tain Francisco  Elisa,  in  the  spring  of  1790 ;  and  preparations  were 
immediately  begun  for  a  permanent  establishment  on  Friendly 
Cove. 

As  soon  as  the  first  arrangements  for  this  purpose  were  completed, 
Elisa  despatched  Lieutenant  Salvador  Fidalgo,  in  the  schooner  San 
Carlos,  to  examine  the  coasts  occupied  by  the  Russians,  and  inquire 
into  the  proceedings  of  that  nation  in  America.  Fidalgo  accord- 
ingly sailed  for  Prince  William's  Sound,  in  which,  and  in  Cook's 
River,  he  spent  nearly  three  months,  engaged  in  surveying  and 
in  visiting  the  Russian  establishments ;  his  provisions  being  then 
exhausted,  he  took  his  departure  for  San  Bias,  where  he  arrived  on 
the  14th  of  November.  The  geographical  information  obtained  by 
him  was  scanty ;  and  the  only  news  which  he  brought  back, 
respecting  the  proceedings  of  the  Russians,  was,  that  they  had 
formed  an  establishment  on  Prince  William's  Sound,  and  that  a 
ship  had  passed  that  bay  from  Kamtchatka,  on  an  exploring  expe- 
dition towards  the  east.* 

The  Russian  ship,  thus  mentioned  by  Fidalgo,  was  one  of  those 
which  had  been  begun  at  Ochotsk  in  1785,  by  order  of  the  empress 
Catharine,  for  a  f  "  secret  astronomical  and  geographical  expedition, 
to  navigate  the  Frozen  Ocean,  and  describe  its  coasts,  and  to 
ascertain  the  situation  of  the  islands  in  the  sea  between  the  conti- 
nents of  Asia  and  America."  For  this  expedition,  a  number  of 
officers  and  men  of  science,  from  various  parts  of  Europe,  were 
engaged ;  and  the  command  was  intrusted  to  Joseph  Billings,  an 
Englishman,  who  had  accompanied  Cook,  in  his  last  expedition,  as 
assistant  astronomer :  but  the  preparations  proceeded  so  slowly,  in 
consequence  of  the  want  of  every  thing  requisite  for  the  purpose  at 


*  Manuscript  journal  of  the  voyngo  of  Fidalgo,  among  the  docunicntB  obtained  from 
the  hydrographical  department  of  Madrid. 

t  Narrative  of  the  Russian  expedition  under  Billings,  by  Martin  Sauer. 


ts  obtained  from 


1790.] 


VOYAGKS    OF    BILLINGS    AND    QUIMPER. 


221 


Ochotsk,  that  the  vessels  were  not  ready  for  sea  until  1789,  and 
then  one  of  them  was  wrecked  inunediately  after  leaving  the  port. 
With  the  other  vessel  Billings  took  his  departure,  on  the  2d  of 
May,  1790,  and  sailed  eastward,  stopping,  in  his  way,  at  Unalashka, 
Kodiak,  and  Prince  William's  Sound,  as  far  as  Mount  St.  Elias ; 
but  there  his  provisions  began  to  fail,  and  he  returned  to  Petro- 
pawlowsk,  soon  after  reaching  which  he  abandoned  the  command 
of  the  enterprise.  In  the  following  year,  the  same  vessel,  with 
another,  which  had  been  built  in  Kamtchatka,  quitted  the  Bay  of 
Avatscha,  under  Captains  Hall  and  Sarytschetf,  neither  of  whom 
advanced  beyond  Bering's  Strait  on  the  north,  or  Aliaska  on  the 
east,  or  collected  any  information  of  value  within  those  limits.  A 
melancholy  picture  of  the  sufferings  experienced  in  these  vessels 
has  been  presented  in  the  narrative  of  Martin  Sauer,  a  German, 
who,  in  an  unlucky  moment,  agreed  to  act  as  secretary  to  the  expe- 
dition :  another  account,  contradicting  that  of  Sauer  in  many 
particulars,  has  been  published  by  Sarytscheff,  who  attributes  the 
faihirc  of  the  enterprise  to  the  incapacity  of  Billings. 

In  the  summer  of  1790,  an  attempt  was  also  made,  by  the 
Spaniards,  to  explore  the  supposed  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca.  For 
that  purpose,  Elisa.  the  commandant  of  Nootka,  detached  Lieu- 
tenant Quimpcr,  in  the  sloop  Princess  Royal,  who  traced  the  pas- 
saiiP  in  an  eastwardly  direction,  examining  both  its  shores,  to  the 
distance  of  about  a  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth,  where  it  was 
ohscrved  to  branch  off  into  a  number  of  smaller  passages,  towards 
the  south,  the  east,  and  the  north,  some  of  which  were  channels 
between  islands,  while  others  appeared  to  extend  far  into  the 
interior.  Quimper  was  unable,  from  want  of  time,  to  penetrate 
any  of  these  passag<*s ;  and  he  could  do  Jio  more  than  note  the 
positions  of  their  entrances,  and  of  several  harbors,  all  of  which 
are  now  well  known,  though  they  are  generally  distinguished  by 
names  different  from  those  assigned  to  them  by  the  Spaniards. 
Among  these  passages  and  harbors  were  the  Cannl  de  Caamauo, 
aftoiwards  named  by  Vancouver  Admiraltij  Inlet;  the  Boca  de 
Flon,  or  Deception  Passao^e ;  the  Canal  de  Ouemes,  and  Canal  de 
Ilaro,  which  may  still  be  found  under  those  names  in  English 
charts,  extending  northward  from  the  eastern  end  of  the  strait ; 
Port  Qjiadra,  the  Port  Discovery  of  Vancouver,  said  to  be  one  of 
the  best  harbors  on  the  Pacific  side  of  America,  with  Port  (Quimper, 
near  it  on  the  west ;  and  Port  Anncz  Gaona,  called  Poverty  Cove 
by  the  American  fur  traders,  situated  a  few  miles  east  of  Cape 


yw 

\^:'i^^; 

\  ■ 

t     ■ 

-    '■ 

.A 


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,  I 


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222 


VOYAGE    OF    MALASPINA. 


[1791. 


m:'' 


Flattery,  where  the  Spaniards  attempted,  in  1792,  to  form  a  settle- 
ment. Having  performed  this  duty  as  well  as  was  possible  under 
the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed,  Quimper  returned  to 
Nootka,  where  he  arrived  in  the  beginning  of  August.* 

On  the  2d  of  June,  1791,  Captain  Alexandro  Malaspina,f  an 
accomplished  Italian  navigator  in  the  service  of  Spain,  who  was 
then  engaged  in  an  expedition  of  survey  and  discovery  in  the 
Pacific,  arrived  on  the  coast,  near  Mount  San  Jacinto,  or  Edge- 
cumb,  with  his  two  ships,  the  Descuhicrta,  commanded  by  himself, 
and  the  Atrevich,  under  Captain  Bustamente.  The  principal  object 
of  their  visit  was  to  determine  the  question  as  to  the  existence  of 
the  Strait  of  Anian,  described  in  the  account  of  Maldonado's 
pretended  voyage,  the  credibility  of  which  had  been,  in  the  pre- 
ceding year,  affirmed,  by  the  French  geographer  Buachc,  in  a 
memoir  read  before  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris.  With  this 
view,  they  carefully  examined  the  coast  between  Prince  William's 
Sound  and  Mount  Fairweather,  running  nearly  in  the  direction  of 
the  60th  parallel,  under  which  Maldonado  had  placed  the  entrance 
of  his  strait  into  the  Pacific,  searching  the  various  bays  and  inlets 
which  there  open  to  the  sea,  particularly  that  called  by  the  English 
Admiralty  Bay,  situated  at  the  foot  of  Mount  St.  Elias.  They 
found,  however,  —  doubtless  to  their  satisfaction,  —  no  passa;,'e 
leading  northward  or  eastward  from  the  Pacific ;  and  they  became 
convinced  that  the  whole  coast  thus  surveyed  was  bordered  by  an 
unbroken  chain  of  lofty  mountains.  Want  of  time  prevented  them 
from  continuing  their  e.vaminations  farther  south ;  and  they  could 
only,  in  passing,  determine  the  latitudes  and  longitudes  of  a  few 


'h: 


*  Tho  journal  of  tliis  voyiir"  is  amonjr  the  manuscripts  obtained  from  the  hydro- 
graphical  department  of  Madrid  ;  annexed  to  it  is  a  memoir  on  the  manners,  customs, 
and  language,  of  the  Indians  about  Nootka  Sound,  translated  from  tiie  Englisli  of 
Joseph  Ingraham,  the  mate  of  the  American  ship  Columbia,  who  wrote  it,  at  the 
request  of  Martinez,  in  17H!(. 

t  The  journals  of  Malaspina's  e.xi)e<lilion  have  never  been  published.  A  sketch 
of  his  voyaije  alono;  the  north-west  coasts  nf  America  is  ^iven  in  the  Introduction  to 
tlie  Journal  of  flaliano  and  Valdes,  in  which  the  hiirhest,  and,  in  some  places,  the 
most  extravairant,  praise  is  bestowed  on  the  ollieers  eniratjed  in  it.  Yet  —  will  it  be 
bi  lieved  ?  —  iho  name  of  .Valii.ipina  does  fint  nppnir  tlirrc  or  in  ttnij  other  part  of  Ike 
hook.  The  unfortunate  eonnnander,  having  iriven  some  otVence  to  Godoy,  bolter 
known  as  the  Prince  of  the  Peace,  who  then  ruled  Spain  without  restriction,  was,  on 
his  return  to  Kurope  in  17!t4,  confined  in  a  dimfreon  at  Coruima,  and  there  kept  as  a 
prisoner  until  IHUii,  when  he  was  liberatcjl,  after  the  peace  of  Amiens,  at  tiie  exprrss 
desire  of  Napoleon.  The  name  of  one  who  h,id  thus  sinned  could  not  bo  allowed  lo 
appear  on  the  pages  of  a  work  published  officially,  by  the  Spanish  government,  for 
the  purpose  of  vindicating  the  claims  of  its  navigators. 


1791.] 


VOYAGE    OP    MARCHAND. 


223 


points  between  Mount  San  Jacinto  and  Nootka  Sound,  where  they 
arrived  on  the  13th  of  August. 

The  visit  made  to  the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  in  the  summer 
of  1791,  by  Captain  Etienne  Marchand,  in  the  French  commercial 
ship  Solide,  from  Marseilles,  is  only  mentioned  on  account  of  the 
Introduction  by  Fleurieu  to  the  Journal  of  her  voyage,  to  which 
allusion  has  been  often  made  in  the  preceding  pages.  Marchand 
landed  on  the  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Guadalupe,  or  Norfolk  Sound, 
near  tlie  56th  degree  of  latitude,  where  he  remained  two  weeks,  en- 
jraged  in  trading  with  the  natives ;  after  which  he  sailed  along  the 
coasts  southward,  occasionally  landing  and  making  observations,  to 
the  entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  and  thence  took  his  departure 
for  Canton.* 

In  the  mean  time,  nine  vessels  from  England  and  seven  from  the 
United  States  were  engaged  in  the  trade  on  the  north-west  coasts 
nf  America.  Of  the  movements  of  the  English  traders  few  accounts 
have  been  made  public :  the  most  active  and  enterprising  among 
them  appears  to  have  been  Captain  Brown,f  of  the  ship  Butter- 
worth,  from  London,  to  whom  Vancouver  acknowledges  himself 
indebted  for  useful  information  on  several  occasions.  In  what  man- 
ner the  British  navigatoi  'eated  citizens  of  the  United  States,  from 
whom  he  derived  infoi.  •;  much  more  important,  will  be  shown 
liereafter. 

*  llpspocting  tho  places  thus  visited,  very  little  exact  information  is  to  be  derived 
from  tlic  Journal  of  Marchand,  though  hundreds  of  its  pages  are  devoted  to  philosoph- 
icil  speculations  (doubtless  by  the  editor)  on  the  origin  and  capacity  of  the  north- 
west American  Indians,  their  languages  and  political  and  religious  institutions,  and 
political  and  religious  institutions  in  general.  The  Journal,  indeed,  seems  to  have 
iiicn  [jublished  merely  in  order  to  afford  a  frame-work  for  the  comments  and  disqui- 
sitions of  the  editor,  Fleurieu,  which,  with  all  their  faults,  are  the  only  parts  of  the 
work  of  any  value. 

The  Introduction  to  this  Journal  is  a  memoir  read  by  Fleurieu  before  tlie  National 
Institute  at  Paris,  in  171*7,  on  the  subject  of  the  discovery  of  the  north-west  coasts  of 
America,  in  which  he  pre;  mts  a  history,  with  reviews  of  all  other  accounts,  of  the 
several  exploring  voyaues  made  by  people  of  civilized  nations  along  those  coasts, 
I'roiu  the  period  of  tlie  conquest  of  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards  to  the  year  1700,  when 
Marchand  began  his  voyage.  For  such  a  task,  Fleurieu  was  well  fitted,  by  his 
previous  labors,  his  general  science,  and  his  acquaintance  with  geography  and  mari- 
time affairs  :  his  memoir  is  elegantly  written,  and  his  accounts  and  opinions  are,  for 
the  most  part,  clear,  fair,  and  liberal  towards  individuals  and  nations.  This  praise  is, 
however,  not  to  be  awarded  to  every  portion  of  his  work.  Ho  was  extravagant  in 
generalizing,  and  often  careless  in  the  examination  of  his  autiiorities,  in  consequence 
of  which  he  committed  numerous  errors ;  and  his  devotion  to  iiis  own  country,  and 
his  contempt  for  the  Spaniards  and  their  government,  led  him  frequently  to  make 
assertions  and  observations  at  variance  with  justice  and  truth. 

f  Brown  was  killed  by  the  natives,  at  Woahoo,  one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
in  January,  17ttr>. 


i  ! 


I  i 


«;     i^      I    ■•      :■-    lip 


■  i 


^.^i-r 


1  1, 
m 

224 


ATTACK    ON    THK    ELEONOUA    AT    MOWKE. 


[1790. 


The  second  tradinj]^  adventure  to  the  North  Pacific  made  by  citi- 
zens  of  the  United  States  was  that  of  Captain  Metcalf,  who  sailed 
from  New  York  in  1788,  in  the  brig  Eleonora,  for  Canton,  and 
there  purchased  a  small  schooner,  which  he  named  the  Fair  Amer- 
ican, and  placed  under  the  command  of  his  son,  a  youth  of  eighteen. 
With  these  vessels  he  arrived,  in  November,  1789,  at  Nootka  Sound 
where  the  schooner  was  seized  by  the  Spanish  commandant  Marti- 
nez ;  but  she  was  soon  liberated,  unfortunately,  as  it  proved,  for 
her  captain  and  crew.  On  their  way  from  the  American  coast,  the 
vessels  were  separated.  The  Eleonora,  on  the  .30th  of  January,  1 790. 
reached  a  small  bay  in  Mowee,  one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  where 
she  anchored  ;  and,  on  the  same  night,  her  boat,  and  a  seaman  who 
was  sleeping  in  it,  were  taken  away  by  the  natives.  On  the  foj- 
lowing  day,  the  islanders  began  to  assemble  in  the  bay  in  canoes. 
and  on  the  shores,  in  great  numbers,  armed,  and  showing  evidenUv 
the  intention  to  take  the  vessel ;  and  one  of  them  was  seized  in  tlie 
act  of  endeavoring  to  strip  oft'  a  piece  of  her  copper,  under  the  idea. 
as  he  confessed,  that  she  would  in  consequence  sink.  The  natives 
becoming  more  daring,  Metcalf  fired  on  them  with  grape,  and 
burnt  their  village ;  and,  having  thus  apparently  quieted  them,  he 
went  farther  up  the  bay,  in  order  to  i  ".)tain  water.  Three  or  four 
days  afterwards,  a  native  came  on  board,  who  oftered  to  bring  back 
the  boat  and  the  sailor  for  a  certain  reward  ;  his  ofti^r  was  accepted. 
and,  on  the  following  day,  he  reappeared  with  tin;  rudder  of  the 
boat  and  some  of  the  bones  of  the  man,  who  had  been  sacrificed  to 
the  gods  of  the  island,  and  coolly  demanded  the  promised  recom- 
pense. This  demand  was  granted,  with  a  view  to  conciliation  ;  but 
the  opposite  eftect  was  produced  :  for  the  islanders,  supposing  that 
they  had  intimidated  the  Americans,  again  surrounded  the  ship  in 
their  canoes  in  vast  numbers.  Metcalf  thereupon,  either  from  exas- 
peration, or  from  his  seeing  no  other  mode  of  safety,  fired  all  his 
guns,  charged  with  grape  and  nails,  among  them,  and  killed,  as 
was  said,  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty ;  after  which  he  sailed 
for  Owyhee,  and  anchored  in  Karakakooa  Ray.* 


*  Th<"  account  of  thcsp  transactions  in  taken  principally  from  a  Icttor  written  by  a 
person  on  board  of  the  Kleonora,  which  was  published  in  the  newspapers  of  the 
United  States  soon  after  the  necurrences  ;  and  from  the  manuscript  jotirrial  of  Captain 
Ingraham,  which  confirms  all  the  stiiteiiients  of  the  letter  writer.  Vancouver  (vol.  li. 
p.  lUfi)  represents  the  affair  as  disadvantaoreftusly  to  the  Americans  .is  possible,  accord- 
ing to  his  constant  practice.  Jarvis,  in  his  History  of  tin-  Sandwich  Islands,  givps 
the  account  as  handed  down  by  the  natives,  holding  Metcalf  up  to  view  as  a  monster 
of  frueity,  and  the  capture  of  the  Fair  American  as  "an  awful  retribution." 


*.  ;  ^  '  ' 


1790.] 


CAPTURE    OP    THE    FAIR    AMERICAN    AT    OWYHEE. 


225 


While  the  Elconora  was  lying  in  this  bay,  the  natives  of  Owyhee 
signally  avenged  the  slaughter  of  tlujir  brethren  at  Movvee. 

On  the  5th  of  February,  the  schooner  Fair  American,  which  had 
been  separated  from  the  brig,  anchored  in  the  Bay  of  Toyahyah, 
(now  called  Kawaihac,)  on  the  north-west  side  of  Owyhee,  about 
tliirty  miles  north  of  Karakakooa  Bay,  where  trade  was  begun  with 
the  natives.  As  these  people  conducted  themselves  peaceably,  they 
were  allowed  to  come  on  board  the  vessel  without  restriction ;  at 
length,  a  chief  named  Tamaahmoto,  or  Kamamoko,  appeared,  with 
a  number  of  attendants,  to  present  the  captain  with  a  feather  cap, 
and  while  in  the  act  of  placing  this  ornament  on  young  Metcalf's 
head,  he  seized  him  and  thrcv  him  overboard,  where  he  was  im- 
mediately killed  ;  the  other  s^'amen,  witji  the  e.\cei)tion  of  one,  were 
in  like  manner  despatched,  and  the  schooner  was  then  drawn  on 
shore  and  ritled.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  this  was  done 
ill  consequence  of  the  proceedings  of  the  captain  of  the  Eleonora  at 
Mowee,  or,  indeed,  that  those  proceedings  were  known  at  Owyhee 
when  the  schooner  was  taken  ;  on  the  contrary,  Tamaahmoto,  in 
1*91.  assured  V'aneoiiver  that  he  was  induced  to  act  as  he  did,  by 
the  ill-tr(>afmciit  of  Metcalf,  who  had  whipped  him  severely  when 
al  Toyahyah.  in  17SJ). 

A  |)lan  was,  at  the  same  time,  formed  by  Tianna  and  Tamaha- 
malia.  the  principal  chiefs  of  th(!  island,  to  take  the  Eleonora.  The 
boatswain  of  that  brig,  named  John  Young,  happened,  however, 
to  be  on  sjiore.  and  tiuMc  met  with  two  English  seamen,  from  whom 
hf  received  information  of  llu^  plan  ;  and  they  succeeded  in  ))re- 
vaiiing  on  Tamaliamalia  to  allow  tliem  to  write  a  letter  to  Captain 
Metealf,  urging  his  innuediate  departure,  on  condition  that  they 
phonld  enter  tlu;  service  of  the  native  chief.  Metealf  took  their 
advice,  and  sailed  away  without  learning  the  news  of  his  son's  fate. 
Youn''  also  succeeded  in  saviiiijj  the  life  of  Isaac  Davis,  the  mate 
of  the  Fair  American,  who  had  been  severely  wounded  at  the  time 
of  the  capture  of  that  schooner ;  and  these  two  men  remained  in 
the  service  of  Tamahamaha  until  their  deaths.* 

The  ship  Columbia  returned  to  Boston  from  Canton,  under  the 
command  of  Gray,  on  the  10th  of  August,  1790,  as  already  men- 
tioned :  but  the  cargo  of  Chinese  articles  brought  by  her  was  insuf- 
ficient to  cover  the  expenses  of  her  voyage ;  and  her  owners  were 


■1'! 


i 


i 


if 


•  Davia  died  in  1808.  Younsj  was,  for  many  yoars,  jrovernor  of  Woahoo,  and  died 
ill  I'riJG,  nearly  ninety  years  old :  for  an  anecdote  illustrative  of  his  character,  see 
Commodore  Porter's  Journal  of  his  Cruise  in  the  Pacific,  vol.  ii.  p.  215. 

29 


T; 


■ir',  I 


mi-: 


imi: 


tt 


■*(i 


226 


VOYAGE  OF  INGRAHAM  IN  THE  HOPE. 


[1791. 


SO  little  satisfied  with  these  results,  that  some  of  them  sold  out  their 
shares  to  the  others,  who,  determining  to  persevere  in  the  enter- 
prise, refitted  the  Columbia  for  a  new  voyage  of  the  same  kind. 
Before  her  departure,  however,  the  brig  Hope,  of  seventy  tons, 
which  had  also  been  equipped  for  the  North  Pacific  trade,  sailed 
from  Boston,  under  the  command  of  Joseph  Ingraham,  the  former 
mate  of  the  Columbia;  and  these  vessels  were  followed  by  the 
Hancock ,  under  Captain  Crowel,  and  the  Jefferson,  under  Captain 
Roberts,  likewise  from  Boston,  and  the  Margaret,  under  Captain 
Magee,  from  New  York.  A  short  notice  of  Ingraham's  voyage  will 
be  first  presented. 

The  brig  Hope  quitted  Boston  on  the  16th  of  September,  1790, 
and,  taking  the  usual  course  by  the  Cape  Verd  Islands  and  Brazil, 
she  arrived  on  the  13th  of  January,  1791,  at  the  entrance  of 
Berkeley  Sound,  or  Port  Soledad,  in  the  Falkland  Islands,  where 
she  found  a  Spanish  establishment  on  the  shore,  and  a  Spanish 
vessel  of  war  in  the  harbor.*  Ingraham  was  anxious  to  visit  the 
establishment,  but  the  commandant  was  unwilling  to  allow  him  to 
do  so,  though  he  furnished  him  liberally  with  provisions.  Quitting 
the  Falkland  Islands,  Ingraham  doubled  Cape  Horn,  and,  on  the 
19th  of  April,  he  discovered  six  islands  previously  unknown,  in  the 
centre  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  between  the  8th  and  the  10th  parallels 
of  latitude,!  to  which  he  gave  the  names  severally  of  Washington^ 
Adams,  Franldin,  Knox,  Federal,  and  Lincoln ;  and  after  some  days 

*  Manuscript  journal  of  the  Hopo's  voyage,  written  by  Ingraliam. 

t  These  islands  are  situated  a  little  north  of  the  group  called  the  Marquesas  de 
Mendoza,  discovered  by  the  Spanish  navigator  Mendana,  in  XTt^H*,  and  about  six 
hundred  miles  north-east  of  Otalieite,  directly  in  the  course  of  vessels  sailing  from 
Cape  Horn  to  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  or  to  China,  to  which  they  offer  con- 
venient places  for  obtaining  water  and  other  refreshments.  They  were  not  seen  bv 
Cook,  who  visited  the  Marquesas  in  1774 ;  nor  does  any  notice  of  them  appear  on 
any  chart  or  account  of  earlier  date  than  17!H,  when  they  were  discovered  by  Ingra- 
ham, as  above  stated.  They  were  afterwards  seen  successively,  on  the  iilst  of  June, 
17i.U,  by  Marchand,  in  the  French  ship  Solide,  who  named  them  lies  dr  la  llituh- 
tion;  on  the  3rttli  of  June,  17!)2,  by  Hergest,  in  the  British  brig  Dcedalus,  after  whom 
Vancouver  called  them  Hrrgcst's  Islands,  though  he  was  well  awanr  of  their  previous 
discovery  by  Ingraham;  and  on  the  6th  of  March,  17!K{,  by  Roberts,  in  the  Jefferson, 
from  Boston,  who  bestowed  on  them  the  name  of  Washington's  Islands.  The  earliest 
notice  of  them  was  published  in  the  form  of  an  extract  from  Ingraham's  Journal,  in 
the  Massarhiisetts  Historical  Collection,  at  Boston,  in  1793:  the  volume  of  the  same 
work,  for  17!)5,  contains  Roberts's  account  of  his  visit,  after  which  appeared,  in  suc- 
cession, the  accounts  of  Hergest  in  Vancouver's  Journal,  and  of  Marchand;  and 
they  have  since  been  visited  and  described  by  Krusenstern,  Lisiansky,  Langsdorf, 
Porter,  Belcher,  Wilkes,  and  other  navigators.  Porter,  during  his  cruise  in  the  Pacific. 
in  the  Essex,  in  1813,  remained  some  time  at  Nooahivah,  the  largest  of  the  islands. 
The  recent  occupation  of  this  group  by  the  French  is  well  known. 


1791.] 


VOYAGE  OF  INGRAHAM  IN  THE  HOPE. 


227 


spent  in  examining  them,  he  took  his  course  for  Owyhee,  where  he 
arrived  on  the  20th  of  May. 

At  Owyhee,  the  Hope  was  visited  by  Tamahamaha,  whose  power 
was  then  rapidly  increasing,  as  well  as  by  his  rival  Tianna ;  and  both 
these  chiefs  were  earnest  in  their  solicitations  that  Ingraham  should 
go  on  shore  and  visit  their  towns.  The  American  captain,  however, 
feeling  some  distrust,  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  leave  his  vessel ;  and, 
after  obtaining  some  provisions  and  water,  he  sailed  to  the  adjacent 
Island  of  Mowee,  where  he  received  from  two  white  men,  who 
escaped  to  the  Hope,  the  news  of  the  capture  of  the  schooner  Fair 
American,  and  the  murder  of  her  crew  at  Owyhee,  in  February  of 
the  preceding  year.  He  then  had  reason  to  congratulate  himself  at 
having  resisted  the  invitations  of  Tamahamaha  and  Tianna,  as  he 
had  no  doubt  that  he  and  his  vessel  and  crew  would  otherwise  have 
been  sacrificed  to  their  hatred  or  cupidity.  At  Mowee,  on  the 
•26th,  the  brig  was  honored  by  the  presence  of  Titeree,  or  Kahikili, 
the  king,  and  Taio,  a  principal  chief;  and  Ingraham  obtained  from 
them  the  liberation  of  an  American  seaman,  who  had  been,  for 
some  time,  detained  as  prisoner  in  the  island.  On  the  following 
(lay,  at  Woahoo,  the  natives  surrounded  the  vessel  in  their  canoes, 
to  the  number  of  many  thousands,  evidently  with  the  intention  of 
taking  her ;  and  it  became  necessary  to  fire  several  muskets  upon 
them  before  she  could  be  freed  from  the  danger. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  Ingraham  left  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  on 
the  29th  of  the  same  month  he  dropped  anchor  in  a  harbor  on  the 
south-east  side  of  Queen  Charlotte's,  or  Washington's,  Island,  to 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  Magcc's  Sound,  in  honor  of  one  of  the 
owners  of  his  vessel.  On  the  coasts  of  this  island,  and  of  the  other 
islands,  and  the  continent  adjacent  on  the  north  and  east,  he  spent 
the  summer  in  trading,  and  collecting  information  as  to  the  geog- 
raphy and  natural  history,  and  the  languages,  manners,  and  customs, 
of  the  inhabitants,  on  all  whicii  subjects  his  journal  contains 
minute  and  interesting  details ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  season  he 
took  his  departure  for  China,  where  he  arrived  on  the  1st  of  De- 
cember, 1791. 

At  Macao,  Ingraham  found  the  French  ship  Solide,  under 
Captain  Marchand,  whose  visit  to  the  north-west  coast  of  Amer- 
ica, in  the  preceding  summer,  has  been  already  mentioned  ;  and  he 
received  much  kindness,  which  he  acknowledges  by  grateful  expres- 
sions in  his  journal,  from  Roblet,  the  surgeon,  and  Chanal,  the  first 


I 


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'H , 

rrl-     ■  ' 

is, 

!;!  -      i  ,, 

228  kknuuick's  speculations  in  thk  r,\ciFic.  [1791. 

officer  of  that  vessel.  To  these  irentlemen  he  ulsio  communicatocl 
the  particulars  of  liis  voyage ;  and  thus  they  learned,  to  their  jj;reat 
regret,  that  they  liad  been  anticipated,  by  ihe  American  captain,  in 
a  discovery  which  was  expected  by  them  to  cast  considerable  eclat 
on  their  expedition.  Maichand  had,  in  the  month  of  June  previous, 
seen  a  group  of  islands  in  the  centre  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  of  which 
he  believed  himself  to  be  the  discoverer,  as  they  were  not  described 
in  any  narrative  or  chart  then  ])ublished  ;  and,  under  this  impres- 
sion, he  named  them  lies  <lc  la' liii'olutioii,  and  had  just  sent  an 
account  of  them  to  France,  to  be  submitted  formally  to  the  National 
Assembly:  on  examining  the  journal  of  the  Hope,  however,  he 
could  have  no  doubt  that  this  was  the  same  grouj)  which  had  been 
found  by  Ingraham  in  April ;  and  the  fact  is  admitted,  though  with 
evident  reluctance,  in  the  narrative  of  his  voviige.* 

Captain  Kendriek,  in  the  Wasjiington,  which  hnd  been  altered 
into  a  brig,  also  arrived  at  Macao  while  the  Hope;  was  lying  there. 
He  had  been  engaged,  since  17S<),  in  various  specidations,  one  of 
which  was  the  collection  and  transjmrtation  to  China  of  tin;  odo- 
riferous wood  called  sandal,  which  grows  in  many  of  the  tro])iral 
islands  of  the  Paciric,  and  is  in  great  demand  throughout  the 
Celestial  Emjjire.  Vancouver  pronounced  this  scheme  chimerical; 
but  experience  has  proved  that  it  was  founded  on  just  calctdations, 
and  the  business  has  been  ever  since  prosecuted  with  advantage, 
es|)ecially  by  the  Americans. 

Another  of  Kendrick's  s|)eculations  has  not  hitherto  produced 
any  fruit.  In  the  sununer  of  1791,  he  purchased  from  lMa(|uiiinii, 
Wicanisli,  and  other  chiefs,  several  large  tracts  of  land  near  Xootka 
f^ound,  for  which  he  obtained  deeds  duly  uiarkeil  by  thos(!  |)ers()ii- 
ages,  and  witnessed  by  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Washington. 
Attempts  were  made,  by  the  owners  of  that  vcjssel,  to  sell  these 
lands  at  London,  in  17});},  but  no  purchasers  were  found:  and 
applications  have  since  been  addressed,  by  the  legal  re|)resentatives 
of  the  owners  and  of  Kendriek,  to  the  government  of  the  United 


*  Injrraliaiii's  namn  is  not  mpntionod  in  tlic  narrative  of  .Marcliand,  thnuirli  many 
particulars  of  his  vnyairo  aro  tlifTo  (jivon.  Tiic  cilitor,  Fliniricii,  tinis  insiiiimifhi 
tnimlndps  tlie  discussion  as  to  the  llrst  discovery  of  the  islands:  "Cajjlain  .Marcliaiid 
undoubtedly  cannot  aspire  to  the  honor  of  ])riority  ;  but,  like  the  American  cii|)t;iin 
who  ])receded  him,  ho  has  not,  on  that  account,  the  less  pretension  to  the  honor  of 
the  discovery;  for  ho  could  not  know,  in  the  nxtnth  of  .lune,  ]T!tl,  while  he  was 
mvi^fntinij  the  irreat  ocean,  that,  a  month  betiire,  another  niiviiralor,  standing  in  tliR 
same  course  with  himself,  liad  mnde  the  same  discovery."  'I'his  is  not  tlie  only 
instance  in  which  Fleuricu  has  displayed  liis  powers  a.s  a  sopliisf. 


i   )     i 

1 


1791.] 


SECOND    VUYAUE    OF    Tilii    CDLUMUIA. 


229 


Slates,  for  a  confiriiiation  of  the  title*  That  the  lands  were  thus 
sold  by  the  savage  chiefs,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt ;  and  Maquinna 
or  VVicanish  would  as  readily  have  conveyed  the  whole  of  America 
to  any  one  for  the  consideration  of  a  copper  kettle  :  but  the  validity 
of  the  ac(iuisition  will  scarcely  be  recofrnized  by  the  civilized  nation 
which  may  hereafter  hold  the  sovereignty  of  the  country  about 
Xootka  t:?ound.  Neither  Kendrick  nor  Jiis  vessel  ever  returned  to 
America:  he  was  killed,  in  1793,  at  Karakakooa  Bay,  in  Owyhee, 
by  a  ball  accidentally  lired  from  a  British  vessel,  while  saluting  him. 

At  Canton,  Ingraham  disposed  of  his  furs  advantageously,  and 
vested  the  proceeds  in  teas,  which  he  sent  to  Boston  by  a  vessel 
clmitorcil  for  the  purpose.  He  thi-n  sailed,  on  the  :jd  of  April,  for 
the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  and  spent  the  sununer  in  trading 
iii  and  about  dueen  Charlotte's  Island,  which  was  then  the  principal 
Rsort  of  the  Americans. 

The  Columbia,  under  her  former  captain,  Gray,  left  Boston  on 
the  'i'-'th  of  September,  1790,  ten  days  after  the  departure  of  the 
Hope  ;  t  and,  without  the  occurrence  of  any  thing  worthy  of  note 
on  her  way,  she  arrived  at  Clyociuot,  near  the  entrance  of  the  Strait 
ol  Fiica,  on  the  5th  of  Jimc,  1791.  'I'hencc  she  proceeded,  in  a 
tbw  days,  to  the  eastern  side  of  U,ueen  Ciiarlotte's  Island,  on  which, 
and  on  the  coasts  of  the  continent  and  islands  in  its  vicinity,  she 
rc'inaiiied  until  September,  engaged  in  trading  and  exploring. 
During  this  time,  Gray  examined  many  of  the  inlets  and  passages 
between  the  51th  and  the  5<5th  parallels,  in  one  of  whieli — most 
pioljubly  the  same  afterwards  calleil  by  V^ancouver  the    Portland 


•       t 

■I 


*. 


!■  . 


|. 


f; 


"  TIio  I'irciiliir  addrcssiMl  by  tin-  owners  of  the  Washiiiirton,  cm  tiiis  ocoiision,  is  a 
nirious  ilocmnent.  It  is  writtt  ii  in  llnir  lanijiKiucs,  and  is  couclu'd  in  terms  the 
!!i(ist  U!is])(M'ific  whicii  conld  iiavc  been  st'li'cti'd.  'I'lu-  '■'■  iitliahitiints  iif  Eiiriipr/'  are 
iiit'Driiicd  liiat,  "  in  IT."^?,  Captain  J.  Kciidrici;,  wliile  prosecuting-  an  advantaifeous 
voyaire  willi  the  natives  I'l^r  tnrs,  pnreliased  ot"  them,  for  the  owners,  a,  tract  ot'  do- 
liirhtfal  coviiitry,  coniprehendin;r  four  deifrees  of  latitude,  or  two  hunch'ed  and  tiirty 
miles  square  ; "  and  tliat  "  sncli  as  may  be  inelined  to  associate,  ti>r  settlinir  a  eom- 
111'  .wealtli  on  tlu'ir  own  code  of  laws,  on  a  spot  of  the  i^lobe  nowheie  surpassed  in 
(iiiii;iitful  and  lieallhy  climate,  and  fertile  soil,  claimed  liy  no  civilized  nation,  and 
purchased,  under  a  sacrod  treaty  of  peace  and  commerce,  and  for  a  valuable  considera- 
tiini,of  the  friendly  natives,  may  have  the  best  opi>ortunity  ot' tryinir  tiie  result  of  such 
an  cnteriirise."  Of  the  situation  of  this  tract  of  deliiilitful  country  we  learn  nothinij 
from  the  circular,  except  that  it  lies  in  America.  'I'he  deeds  for  the  lands  are  de- 
clared to  have  been  recrist<'red  in  the  olllce  of  the  American  consul  at  Macao;  and 
fiiese  deeds,  or  some  of  them,  have  been  lately  publislie<l,  referrinir  only  to  the  l(>rri- 
torics  about  Nootka  Wound,  which,  thouirh  inclndiuii;  all  the  <lonnnions  of  the  chiet's 
cunvcyinij  them,  do  not  amount  to  one  twenty-t()urth  part  of  two  hundred  and  forty 
miles  sqtiare. 

t  Log-book  of  the  Columbia,  from  September  8;?th,  ITIK),  to  February  S20lli,  17!)^. 


■  .1   ' 


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230 


THE    COLUMBIA    WINTERS    AT    CLYOQUOT. 


im-i 


Canal — he  penetrated  from  its  entrance,  in  the  latitude  of  54 
degrees  33  minutes,  to  the  distance  of  a  hundred  miles  north, 
eastward,  without  reaching  its  termination.  This  inlet  he  supposed 
to  be  the  Rio  de  Reyes  of  Admiral  Fonte ;  a  part  of  it  was  named 
by  him  Massacre  Cove,  in  commemoration  of  the  murder  of  Cas- 
well, the  second  mate,  and  two  seamen  of  his  vessel,  by  the 
natives,  on  its  shore,  on  the  '2'2d  of  August.  Shortly  after  this 
melancholy  occurrence,  the  Columbia  fell  in  with  the  Hope,  and 
the  twvi  captains  communicated  to  each  other,  though  appareiulv 
with  some  reserve,  the  results  of  their  observations.  They  then 
separated,  Ingraham  going  to  China,  an  above  related,  while  Gray 
returned  to  Clyoquot. 

At  Clyoquot,  the  crew  of  the  Columbia  passed  the  winter  in  a 
fortified  habitation,  which  they  erected  on  the  shore  of  the  bay. 
and  called  Fort  Defiance ;  and  they  were  employed  in  building  a 
small  vessel,  which  was  launched,  and  named  the  Adventun. 
Whilst  preparing  for  sea,  they  were  visited  by  Tatoochseatticus 
and  Wicanish,  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  surrounding  country, 
with  a  number  of  followers,  between  whom  and  a  Sandwich 
Islander  on  board  the  Columbia  it  soon  became  evident  that  some 
understanding  had  been  established.  Gray's  suspicions  being  ex- 
cited, he  questioned  the  Sandwich  Islander,  who  at  length  confessed 
that  the  Indians  had  formed  a  plan  for  the  seizure  of  the  vessels, 
and  the  murder  of  their  crews,  and  had  promised  to  spare  his  life, 
and  make  him  a  chief,  if  he  would  aid  them  by  wetting  the  priming 
of  all  the  guns  at  a  particular  time.  Thus  forewarned,  the  Ameri- 
cans were  on  their  guard;  and  the  savages,  who  suruunded  the 
vessel  on  the  following  day,  were  kept  at  a  distance. 

In  the  spring  of  179*2,  the  Adventure  sailed  for  Queen  Char- 
lotte's Island,  under  the  command  of  Ilaswell,  the  first  mate  of  the 
Columbia;  and  Gray  took  his  departure  in  the  ship,  on  a  cruise 
southward  along  the  coasts  of  the  continent,  the  particulars  of  which 
will  appear  in  the  next  chapter. 


S31 


■» 


1 

I; 

•  It': 


CHAPTER   XI. 


179-2  TO  1796. 


ulars  of  which 


Vancouver  and  Broughton  arrive  on  the  American  Coasts  in  1702,  and  meet  with 
Gray,  who  informs  them  of  hJH  I)ineovery  of  thi'  Columbia  Ilivor  —  The  Strait  of 
Fura  HurveycMJ  l>y  Vancouver,  (Jaliano,  nnd  Viildes  —  Necrotiations  between  Van- 
rnuver  and  Quadra  at  Nootita — Vanrouvcr's  Injuriticc  to  th(>  Atiierieans  — 
llrouijhtou's  Kxamination  of  the  lower  I'art  of  the  Columbia  lliver — Vancou- 
ver's I'roeeedinjjs  at  the  Saiulwieli  Inlnnds — lie  completes  the  Survey  of  tho 
North-\Ve8t  Coasts  of  America,  and  returns  to  Knifland  —  The  Spaniards  abandon 
Nootka  —  Conclusions  with  llegard  to  the  Dispute  between  Great  Britain  and 
Spain,  ond  the  Convention  of  1700. 

The  viceroy  of  Mexico,  count  dc  Rcvillagigedo,  on  learning  the 
results  of  the  voyages  of  Fidalgo,  Quimper,  and  Malaspina,  along 
the  north-west  cotists  of  America,  ordered  three  other  vessels  to  be 
prepared,  for  continuing  the  exploration  of  those  coasts.  In  one  of 
them,  the  corvette  Aransasu,  Lieutenant  Jacinto  Caamano  was 
directed  to  seek,  particularly  near  the  53d  degree  of  latitude,  for 
the  mouth  of  the  Rio  <h  Reyes,  through  which  Admiral  Fonte 
was  said  to  have  sailed,  in  1640,  north-eastward,  into  a  lake  com- 
municating with  the  Atlantic ;  while  Lieutenants  Dionisio  Alcala 
Galiano  and  Cayetano  Valdes  were  to  survey  tho  Strait  of  Fuca,  in 
the  small  schooners  Sutil  and  Mexicana.  These  vessels  sailed  from 
San  Bias  in  the  spring  of  1792,  and  arrived  in  May  at  Nootka  Sound, 
whence  they  soon  after  departed  on  their  respective  expeditions.* 

Captain  Bodega  y  Quadra,  the  superintendent  of  the  marine 
department  of  San  Bias,  was  at  the  same  time  despatched  to 
Nootka,  to  take  the  command  of  the  forces  in  that  quarter,  and  to 
treat  with  Captain  Vancouver,  who  was  expected  to  arrive  there  in 
the  following  summer,  with  regard  to  the  lands  and  buildings 
claimed  by  British  subjects,  in  virtue  of  the  first  and  second  articles 
of  the  convention  of  1790.     He  was  instructed,  in  case  it  should 

*  The  works  which  have  served  principally  as  authorities  for  the  accounts  in  this 
chapter  are  —  tho  journal  of  Captain  George  Vancouver,  three  vols.  4to.,  pu)>lished 
at  London  in  1797  —  the  journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes  —  and  the  manuscript  journal 
nf  the  voyage  of  the  American  brig  Hope,  written  by  her  captain,  J.  Ingraham  —  with 
others,  to  which  reference  will  be  made. 


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23-2 


VANIOUVF.U    IlKACUKS    TIIK    Nf)KTir-\VR8T    COAST.  [HOiJ, 


be  rrijiiisitc,  to  ubiiiHlon  Nootkti,  mid  witlulriiw  nil  tlio  S|)!itiis!i 
forces  nnd  settlors  to  some  fonveniciit  point  of  the  enast  fnrtliir 
south  ;  nnd,  in  nntieiimtion  of  siieli  a  eontinijency,  a  Vfwel  wus  sent 
from  San  Jllas,  under  the  eonnnand  of  l''idalij;o,  to  seek  for  a  prooor 
spot,  and  innli(!  |)n'pamtions  on  it  for  a  permanent  ('stahlishnicnt. 

Vaneou>er  and  l?ro)ii;hton  reaehcd  the  Amcrieari  coast  in  April, 
179-^.  a  little  sonth  of  Capo  Mendocino,  whence  they  sailed  slowly 
northward,  to  the  Strait  of  I'nca,  which  tlu>y  were  instructed  par- 
ticularly to  explore.  On  tlieir  way,  they  carefully  examined  t||(. 
shores,  and  determined  tiu;  i^ooirraphica!  positions  of  all  the  most 
prominent  points,  eomparinir  the  r<  suits  of  their  observations  witji 
those  obtained  by  Cook  and  others  wIh)  had  preceded  them.  Near 
the  d.'hl  de^'ref^  of  latitude,  they  sought  in  vain  for  the  river  wliicli 
Martin  de  Aijjuilar  was  said  to  have  seen,  enterint;  the  Pacitic;  tlien;- 
abouts,  in  \i')U'.i.,  nnd  they  appeared  inclined  to  admit  ns  identiciil 
with  the  Cape  Blanco  of  thai  navi<rator,  a  high,  whitish  promontory, 
in  the  latitude  of  4-2  detjrees  5'i  minutes,  to  which  they,  houevcr. 
did  not  scruple  to  assif^n  the  name  of  Cnpc  Orjhrd. 

Vancouver  also  observed  with  attention  the  Deception  Hay  of 
Meares.  which  was  represented  on  Spanish  charts  as  the  month  of 
a  river.  Of  this  ])art  of  his  voyaijje,  he  presents  the  following 
account  in  his  journal,  under  date  of 

"  April  27th.  —  Noon  brou<>;Iit  us  up  with  a  conspicuous  point 
of  land,  conijjosed  of  a  cluster  of  hummocks,  moderately  hitrh.  ami 
projectini,'  into  the  sea.  On  the  south  si<le  of  this  prt)montory  was 
the  api)earance  of  an  inlet,  or  small  river,  the  land  not  indicatinii;  it 
to  be  of  any  irreat  extent,  nor  did  it  seem  to  be  accessible  for  ves- 
sels of  our  burden,  as  the  breakt^rs  extended  from  tiie  above  j)oint. 
two  or  three  miles  into  the  ocean,  utitil  th«\v  joined  thos(3  on  tin; 
beach,  nearly  four  leajrues  farther  south.  On  reference  to  Mr. 
Meares's  description  of  the  coast  south  of  this  promontory,  I  was 
at  lirst  inclined  to  believi.'  it  was  Cap(!  Shoalwaler;  but,  on  nscor- 
taininuf  its  latitude,  I  jiresmned  it  to  be  that  which  he  calls  Ciipo 
Disappointment,  and  the  openint,'  south  of  it  Deception  Bay.  This 
cape  we  found  to  be  in  latitude  of  IG  <letJ:rees  11)  minutes,  lon;ji- 
tude  2.'J6  dci;recs  6  minutes  [east].  TIk;  sea  had  now  changoil 
from  its  natural  to  river-colored  water,  the  jtrobuble  cons<'(iuencc 
of  some  streams  falliiii;  into  tlu;  bay,  or  into  th(!  oj)(>nini>;  nf»rtli  of 
it,  throuiih  the  low  land.  ?so!  rovHidcnu'j;  this  npin'ni<;;  worthij  of 
more  attention,  I  continued  our  purstiit  to  th(>  north-west,  beini: 
desirous  to  embrace  the  advantages  of  the  now  prcjvailiui^  breeze  and 
pleasant  weather,  so  favorable  to  an    examination  of  the  coasts." 


1792.)    VANCOIIVKR    MRKTS    ORAY    NKAR    THE    STRAIT    OF    TUCA.      233 

Vancouver  accordingly  sailed  onwards,  to  the  entrance  of  the 
Strait  i>f  Fiica,  wliicfi  he  was  eager  to  explore ;  having,  as  he 
believed,  ascertained  that  "  the  several  large  rivers  and  capacious 
inlets,  that  have  been  described  as  discharging  their  contents  into 
(he  Pacific,  iHjtwcen  the  -lOth  and  the  48th  degrees  of  north  lati- 
tude, were  reduced  to  brooks  insufficient  for  our  vessels  to  navigate, 
or  to  bays  inaccessible  as  harbors  for  refitting."  Again  he  says, 
'Considering  ourselves  now  on  the  point  of  commencing  an  exami- 
nation of  an  entirely  new  region,  I  cannot  take  leave  of  the  coast 
already  known,  without  obtruding  a  short  remark  on  that  part  of 
the  continent,  comprehending  a  space  of  nearly  two  hundred  and 
fifteen  leagues,  on  which  our  inquiries  had  been  lately  employed, 
under  the  most  fortunate  and  favorable  circumstances  of  wind  and 
weather.  Ho  minutely  has  this  extensive  coast  been  inspected,  that  the 
surf  has  been  constantly  seen  to  break  on  its  shores  from  the  mast- 
head;  and  it  was  but  in  a  few  small  intervals  only  where  our 
distance  precluded  its  being  visible  from  the  deck.  Whenever  the 
weather  prevented  our  making  free  with  the  shore,  or  on  our  haul- 
iiin;  oil*  for  the  night,  the  return  of  fine  weather  and  of  daylight 
uiiil'ormly  brought  us,  if  not  to  the  identical  spot  we  had  departed 
from,  at  least  within  a  ft!W  miles  of  it,  and  never  beyond  the 
northern  limits  of  the  coast  which  we  had  previously  seen.  An 
examination  so  directed,  and  circumstances  happily  concurring  to 
|icrmit  its  being  so  executed,  afforded  the  most  complete  opportunity 
ofddcrminins^  its  various  turnings  and  windings,  as  also  the  position 
of  all  its  conspicuous  points,  ascertained  by  meridional  altitudes  for 
the  latitude,  and  ()l)serviitions  for  the  chronometer,  which  we  had  the 
::oo(l  fortune  to  make  constantly  once,  and  in  general  twice,  every 
(liiy.  the  preceding  one  only  excepted.  It  must  be  considered  a  very 
sin^'iilar  circumstance,  that,  in  so  great  an  extent  of  sea-coast,  we 
should  not  until  now  have  seen  the  appearance  of  any  opening  in  its  shore 
which  presented  any  certain  prospect  of  affording  a  shelter,  the  whole 
coast  forming  one  compact  and  nearly  straight  barrier  against  the  »t;.f." 

On  the  same  day,  the  'iOth  of  April,  119'2,  Vancouver  writes  m 
his  journal,  "  At  four  o'clock,  a  sail  was  discovered  to  the  westward, 
standing  in  shore.  This  was  a  very  great  novelty,  not  hating  seen 
any  vessel  but  our  consort  during  the  last  eight  months.  8he  soon 
hoisted  American  colors,  and  fired  a  gun  to  leeward.  At  six  we 
spoke  her ;  she  proved  to  be  the  ship  Colnmbia,  commanded  by 
Captain  Robert  Gray,  belonging  to  Boston,  whence  she  had  been 
absent  nineteen  months.  Having  little  doubt  of  his  being  the  same 
30 


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f  -  • 


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234 


GRAY  S    ACCOUNT    OF    HIS    DISCOVERIES. 


[1792. 


person  who  had  formerly  commanded  the  sloop  Washington,  I 
desired  he  would  bring  to,  and  sent  Mr.  Puget  and  Mr.  Menzies  on 
board,  to  acquire  such  information  as  might  be  serviceable  in  our 
future  operations.  On  the  return  of  the  boat,  we  found  our  con- 
jectures had  not  been  ill  grounded  ;  that  this  was  the  same  gentle- 
man who  had  commanded  the  sloop  Washington,  at  the  time,  we 
are  informed,  she  had  made  a  very  singular  voyage  behind  Nootka. 
It  was  not  a  little  remarkable,  that,  on  our  approach  to  the  entrance 
of  this  inland  sea,  we  should  fall  in  with  the  identical  person  who. 
it  was  said,  had  sailed  through  it.  His  relation,  however,  differed 
very  materially  from  that  published  in  England.  It  is  not  possible 
to  conceive  any  one  to  be  more  astonished  than  was  Mr.  Gray,  on 
his  being  made  acquainted  that  his  authority  had  been  quoted,  and 
the  track  pointed  out  that  he  had  been  said  to  have  made  in  the 
sloop  Washington ;  in  contradiction  to  which,  he  assured  the  of- 
ficers that  he  had  penetrated  only  fifty  miles  into  the  straits  in 
question,  in  an  e&st-south-east  direction ;  that  he  found  the  passage 
five  leagues  wide,  and  that  he  understood  from  the  natives  that  the 
opening  extended  a  considerable  distance  to  the  northward :  that 
this  was  all  the  information  he  had  acquired  respecting  this  inland 
sea,  and  that  he  returned  into  the  ocean  by  the  same  way  he  had 
entered  at.  The  inlet  he  supposed  to  be  the  same  that  De  Fnca 
had  discovered,  which  opinion  seemed  to  be  universally  received  bv 
all  the  modern  visitors.  He  likewise  informed  them  of  his  havinir 
been  off  the  mouth  of  a  river,  in  the  latitude  of  46  degrees  10 
minutes,  where  the  outset  or  reflux  was  so  strong  as  to  prevent  his 
entering  for  nine  days.  This  was  probably  the  opening  passed  by 
us  on  the  forenoon  of  the  27th,  and  was  apparently  inaccessible, 
not  from  the  current,  but  from  the  breakers  that  extended  across  it. 
He  had  also  entered  another  inlet  to  the  northward,  in  latitude  of 
54^  degrees,  in  which  he  had  sailed  to  the  latitude  of  56  degrees, 
without  discovering  its  termination.  The  south  point  of  entrance 
into  De  Fuca's  Straits  he  stated  to  be  in  48  degrees  24  minutes; 
and  he  conceived  our  distance  from  it  to  be  about  eight  leagues. 
The  last  winter  he  had  spent  in  Port  Cox,  or,  as  the  natives  call  it. 
Clyoquot,  from  whence  he  had  sailed  but  a  few  days,"  &,c. 

The  part  of  this  account  relating  to  the  Strait  of  Fuca  appears 
to  have  been  received  with  much  satisfaction  by  Vancouver,  as  it 
seemed  to  assure  him  that  he  had  not  been  anticipated  in  the 
exploration  of  that  passage ;  to  Gray's  statement  of  his  discovery  of 
a  river  emptying  into  the  Pacific,  in  the  latitude  of  46  degrees  10 


1  y' 


1792.] 


GUAY  S    ACCOUNT    OF    HIS    DISCOVERIES. 


235 


minutes,  he  gave  little,  or  rather  no  credit,  being  content  with  his 
own  examination  of  that  part  of  the  coast.  On  the  day  after  his 
meeting  with  the  Columbia,  he  writes,  "  The  river  mentioned  by 
Mr.  Gray  should,  from  the  latitude  he  assigned  to  it,  have  existence 
in  the  bay  south  of  Cape  Disappointment.  This  we  passed  in  the 
forenoon  of  the  27th  ;  and,  as  I  then  observed,  if  any  inlet  or  river 
should  be  found,  it  must  be  a  very  intricate  one,  and  inaccessible  to 
vessels  of  our  burden,  owing  to  the  reefs  and  broken  ivater,  which 
then  appeared  in  its  neighborhood.  Mr.  Gray  stated  that  he  had 
been  several  days  attempting  to  enter  it,  which,  at  length,  he  was 
unable  to  effect,  in  consequence  of  a  very  strong  outset.  This  is 
a  phenomenon  difficult  to  account  for,  as,  in  most  cases  where  there 
are  outsets  of  such  strength  on  a  sea-coast,  there  are  corresponding 
tides  setting  in.  Be  that,  however,  as  it  may,  /  was  thoroughly 
convinced,  as  ivere  also  most  persons  of  observation  on  board,  that 
ice  could  not  possibly  have  passed  any  safe  navigable  opening,  harbor, 
or  place  of  security  for  shipping,  on  this  coast,  from  Cape  Mendocino 
to  the  promontory  of  Classct,  [Cape  Flattery,  at  the  entrance  of  the 
Strait  of  Fuca ;]  nor  had  we  any  reason  to  alter  our  opinions, 
notwithstanding  that  theoretical  geographers  have  thought  proper 
to  assert  in  that  space  the  existence  of  arms  of  the  ocean  commu- 
nicating with  a  mediterranean  sea,  and  extensive  rivers  with  safe 
and  convenient  ports." 

Having  thus  recorded  his  convictions,  the  British  navigator 
proceeded  to  survey  the  Strait  of  Fuca ;  whilst  the  American  fur 
trader  sailed  towards  the  mouth  of  the  river,  into  which  he  resolved, 
if  possible,  to  etlect  an  entrance. 

After  parting  with  the  Eniilish  ships,  Gray  sailed  along  the  coast 
of  the  continent  to  the  south,  and,  on  the  7th  of  May,  he  "  saw 
an  entrance  which  luul  a  very  good  appearance  of  a  harbor,"  in  the 
latitude  of  46  degrees  58  minutes.  Passing  through  this  entrance, 
lie  found  himself  in  a  bay  ■•  well  sheltered  from  the  sea  by  long 
sand-bars  and  spits,"  whore  he  remained  at  anchor  three  days, 
engaged  in  trading  with  the  natives  ;  and  he  then  resumed  his 
voyage,  bestowing  on  the  place  thus  discovered  the  name  of  Bul- 
fincKs  Harbor,  in  honor  of  one  of  the  owners  of  his  ship. 

At  daybreak  on  the  11  th,  after  leaving  Bulfinch's  Harbor,  Gray 
observed  "  the  entrance  of  his  desired  port,  bearing  east-south-east, 
distant  six  leagues  ; "  and  running  into  it,  with  all  sails  set,  between 
the  breakers,  (which  Mearcs  and  Vancouver  |)ronounce  impassable,) 
he  anchored,  at  one  o'clock,  "'  in  a  large  river  of  fresh  xvaicr,"  ten 


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.,.,  J 


236 


WHO    DISCOVERED    THE    COLUMBIA 


11792. 


mv^ 


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miles  above  its  mouth.  At  this  spot  lie  remained  three  days,  en- 
gaged in  trading  and  iiUing  liis  casks  with  water,  and  then  sailed 
up  the  river  about  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  along  its  northern  shore  • 
where,  finding  that  he  could  proceed  no  farther,  from  having  "  taken 
the  wrong  channel,"  he  again  came  to  anchor.  During  the  week 
which  followed,  he  made  several  attempts  to  quit  the  river,  but 
was  constantly  baffled,  until,  at  length,  on  the  20th,  he  crossed  the 
bar  at  the  mouth,  by  beating  over  it  with  a  westerly  wind,  and 
regained  the  Pacific* 

On  leaving  the  river.  Gray  gave  to  it  the  name  of  his  ship  — the 
Columbia  —  which  it  still  bears ;  though  attempts  are  made  to  fix 
upon  it  that  of  Oregon,  on  the  strength  of  the  accounts  which 
Carver  pretended  to  have  collected,  in  1766,  among  the  Indians  of 
the  Upper  Mississippi,  respecting  a  River  Oregon,  rising  near  Lake 
Superior,  and  emptying  into  (he  Strait  of  Anian.j  The  extremity 
of  the  sand-bank,  projecting  into  the  sea  on  the  south  side  of  its  en- 
trance, was  called  by  Gray  Point  Adams ;  and  he  assigned  the  name 
of  Cape  Hancock  to  the  opposite  promontory,  on  the  north  side,  be- 
ing ignorant  that  Meares  had  already  called  it  Cape  Disappointment, 
in  token  of  the  unsuccessful  result  of  his  search  for  the  river. 

The  principal  circumstances  relating  to  the  discovery  of  this 
river,  the  greatest  which  enters  the  Pacific  from  America,  have 
now  been  fairly  presented.  It  has  been  shown  —  that  the  opening 
through  which  its  waters  are  discharged  into  the  ocean  was  first 
seen  in  August,  1776,  by  the  Spanisji  navigator  Heceta,J  and  was 
distinguished  on  Spanish  charts,  within  the  thirteen  years  next 
following,  as  the  moutii  of  the  River  San  Roque  —  that  it  was 
examined  in  July,  1738,  by  Mearcs,«§>  who  quitted  it  with  the  con- 
viction that  no  river  existed  there  —  and  that  this  opinion  of 
Meares  was  subscribed,  without  qualification,  by  Vancouver,  after  he 
had  minutely  examined  that  coast,  "  under  the  most  favorable  con- 
ditions of  wind  and  weather,''''  and  notwithstanding  the  assurances 
of  Gray  to  the  contrary.  Had  Gray,  after  parting  with  the  Englisli 
ships,  not  returned  to  the  river,  and  ascended  it  as  he  did,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  it  would  have  long  remained  unknown : 
for  the  assertions  of  Vancouver  that  no  opening,  harbor,  or  place  of 
refuge  for  vessels,  was  to  be  found  between  Cape  Mendocino  and  the 


*  See  tlip  extract  from  the  loir-book  of  the  Columbia,  containing  the  account  of 
the  entrance  of  Gray  into  the  river,  among  the  Proofa  and  Illustrations,  in  the  latter 
part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  E,  No.  a. 

t  See  p.  142.  t  See  p.  120.  §  See  p.  177. 


1792.] 


WHO    DISCOVEftKD    THE    COLUMBIA? 


237 


Strait  of  Fuca,  and  that  this  part  of  the  coast  formed  one  compact, 
solid,  and  nearly  straight,  harrier  against  the  sea,  would  have  served 
completely  to  overthrow  the  evidence  of  the  American  fur  trader, 
and  to  prevent  any  further  attempts  to  examine  those  shores,  or 
even  to  approach  them.* 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  Rivar,  Gray  sailed  to  the  east 
coast  of  Queen  Charlotte's  Island,  neai  which  his  ship  struck  on  a 
rock,  and  was  so  much  injured  that  she  was  with  difficulty  kept 
afloat  until  she  reached  Nootka  Sound,  where  the  damage  was 
repaired.  The  Hope  also  arrived  at  Nootka  at  this  time,  and 
Gray  communicated  the  particulars  of  his  recent  discoveries  to 
Ingraiiam,  and  to  the  Spanish  commandant  Quadra,  to  whom  he 
also  gave  charts  and  descriptions  of  Bulfinch's  Harbor,  and  of 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.  On  tliis  occasion,  moreover,  the  two 
American  captains  addressed  to  Quadra,  at  his  request,  a  letter  f 
containing  a  narrative  of  the  transactions  at  Nootka  in  1789,  to 
which  particular  reference  will  be  hereafter  made.  Having  soon 
completed  their  business  on  the  north-west  coasts,  Gray  and  Ingra- 
liam  departed  severally  for  Canton,  in  September,  and  thence  they 
sailed  to  the  United  States.  { 

•  It  was,  novcrthelcss,  insisted,  on  tho  part  of  tlie  British  government,  in  a  discus- 
sion with  tlio  United  States,  in  1H'J(),  tliat  the  viirit  of  discorering  the  Columbia 
bdonijs  to  Mearcs !  "that,  in  I76ii,  four  years  before  Gray  entered  the  mouth  of 
the  Cohinibia  River,  Mr.  Meares,  a  lieutenant  of  the  royal  navy,  who  had  been  sent 
by  tlie  East  India  Company  on  a  tradinir  e,\pedition  to  the  north-west  coast  of 
America,  had  already  minutely  explored  the  coast  from  tlit-  4'.lth  to  the  r>4tli  degree 
of  north  latitude  ;  had  taken  formal  possession  of  tlio  Straits  of  I)e  Fuca  in  the  name 
of  his  sovereign  ;  had  purchased  land,  tratllcked  and  formed  treaties  with  the  natives  ; 
and  had  actually  entered  the  Hay  of  the  Cidumbia,  to  the  northern  headland  of 
which  he  gave  the  name  of  Cape  I)isap(>ointment,  a  name  whieii  it  bears  to  this 
day;"  and  that  "  if  any  claim  to  these  countries,  as  between  (ireat  Rritain  and  the 
United  States,  is  to  be  deduced  from  priority  of  the  discovery,  the  above  exposition 
of  dates  and  facts  suffices  to  establish  that  claim  in  favor  of  (Ireat  Britain,  on  a  basis 
too  firm  to  be  shaken.  It  must  indeed  be  luimitted,"  contin\i<  the  British  plenipo- 
tentiaries, "that  Mr.  Clray,  finding  himself  in  the  bay  t'ormed  by  the  discharge  of 
the  waters  of  the  Columbia  into  th(>  Pacific,  iras  the  first  to  asrirtnin  that  this  buy 
formed  the  outlet  of  a  irrrat  river  —  «  iliscorrrij  irhirh  had  nn-upiil  Liiulrnant  Jtcavs, 
vhrn,  ill  1788,  four  years  before,  he  entered  the  same  bay.'  The  truth  in  the  last  of 
these  assertions  atones  fiir  the  errors  in  those  which  precede,  and  counteracts  the 
impression  which  the  whole  was  intended  to  produce.  —  See  the  statement  presented 
by  Messrs.  Iluskisson  and  Addington  to  Mr.  (iallatin,  in  18'i(J,  among  the  Proofs 
and  Illustrations,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  G. 

t  See  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  C. 

i  Iiigrahain  subsequently  entered  the  navy  of  the  United  Slates  as  a  lieutenant, 
and  was  one  of  the  officers  of  the  ill-fated  brig  Pickering,  of  which  nothing  was  ever 
heard,  after  her  departure  from  the  Delaware  in  August,  18()().  (iray  continued  to 
command  tradin  j  vessels  from  Boston  until  160!>,  about  which  time  he  died. 


1' 

i 

!    * 

i 

1 

i: 

1 
; 

:*:! 


I: 


il 


:■'.,  I. 
'l-j 


.1  m;  w: 


<    : 


238 


SURVEY    OF    ADMIRALTY    INLET. 


[1792. 


ii 


j  ; 


In  the  mean  time,  the  survey  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca  had  been 
completed. 

Vancouver  and  Broughton  took  their  departure  on  the  1st  of 
May,  as  already  mentioned,  from  Cape  Flattery,  the  point  at  the 
south  side  of  the  entrance  of  the  Strait,  and  thence  sailed  slowly 
along  the  coast  eastward,  about  a  hundred  miles,  to  its  extremity 
in  that  direction,  where  they  entered  a  harbor  called  by  them  Port 
Discovery,  the  same  which  had,  in  1790,  received  from  Quimper 
the  name  of  Port  Quadra.  A  little  beyond  this  harbor,  they  found 
another  opening  in  the  coast  towards  the  south,  corresponding  with 
that  called  by  Quimper  Canal  de  Caamano,  through  which  they 
entered  an  extensive  arm  of  the  sea,  with  several  branches,  stretch- 
ing in  various  southerly  directions,  to  the  distance  of  more  than  a 
hundred  miles  from  the  strait.  This  great  arm,  called  Admiralty 
Inlet,  with  its  principal  branches,  Hood^s  Canal  on  the  west.  Pos- 
session Sound  on  the  east,  and  Puget^s  Sound,  the  southernmost, 
were  carefully  surveyed  to  their  respective  terminations ;  and  tlie 
navigators,  having  thus  ascertained  that  no  passage  through  the  con- 
tinent was  to  be  effected  by  those  channels,  returned  to  the  strait. 
Of  the  beauty  and  apparent  fertility  of  the  country  surrounding  this 
arm  of  the  sea,  Vancouver  speaks  in  glowing  terms.  The  surface 
near  the  shores  was  generally  undulating,  presenting  a  succession 
of  meadows,  lavns,  and  hillocks,  many  of  which  were  covered 
with  noble  forests  of  oak  ;  '"  the  soil  jirincipally  consisted  of  a  rich. 
black,  vegetable  mould,  lying  on  a  sandy  or  clayey  substratum  ;  the 
grass,  of  excellent  quality,  grew  to  the  height  of  three  feet,  and  the 
ferns,  which,  in  the  sandy  soils,  occupied  the  clear  spots,  were 
nearly  twice  as  high."  In  the  distance,  on  the  east,  the  south,  and 
the  west,  the  view  was  bounded  by  lofty  mountains,  to  the  stupen- 
dous peaks  of  which  Vancouver  assigned  the  names  of  British 
admirals  and  diplomatists. 

After  completing  this  part  of  their  survey,  the  English  landed  on 
the  shore  of  Possession  Sound,  and  celebrated  the  birthday  of  their 
sovereign,  the  4th  of  June,  by  taking  possession,  in  his  name,  and 
"  with  the  usual  formalities,  of  all  that  part  of  New  Albion,  from 
the  latitude  of  39  degrees  20  minutes  south,  and  longitude  236 
degrees  26  minutes  east,  to  the  entrance  of  the  inlet  of  the  sea, 
said  to  be  the  supposed  Strait  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  as  also  of  all  the 
coasts,  islands,  &c.,  within  the  said  strait,  and  both  its  shores;  "  to 
which  region  they  gave  the  appellation  of  Neio  Georgia.  With 
regard  to  this  ceremony,  it  may  be  observed,  that,  although  naval 


.1- 


ns:  and  tlie 


179-2.] 


VANCOUVER  MEETS  GALIANO  AND  VALDES. 


239 


officers  are  not  expected  to  be  minutely  acquainted  with  diplomatic 
aflliirs,  yet  Captain  Vancouver,  vvlio  was  sent  to  the  North  Pacific 
as  commissioner  to  execute  the  convention  of  October,  1790,  should 
have  recollected  that,  by  the  stipulations  of  that  convention,  every 
ynrt  of  the  north-west  coast  of  America  teas  rendered  free  and  open 
for  trade  or  settlement  to  Spaiush  as  ivell  as  British  subjects;  and 
that,  consequently,  no  claim  of  sovereignty,  on  the  part  of  cither  of 
those  nations,  could  be  valid.  It  may  socm  pedantic,  if  not  unjust, 
to  make  this  remark  with  regard  to  what  may  have  been  nothing 
more  than  thb  result  of  an  exuberance  of  loyal  feeling  in  the  officers 
and  crews  of  the  vessels ;  but  this  taking  possession  by  Vancouver 
has  been  since  gravely  adduced,  by  the  representatives  of  the  British 
government,  in  support  of  its  claims  to  the  dominion  of  the  terri- 
tories above  mentioned.* 

On  returning  to  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  the  English  examined  several 
other  passages  opening  into  it,  some  of  which  were  found  to  ter- 
minate in  the  land,  at  short  distances  from  their  mouths,  and  others 
to  be  channels  between  islands.  Through  one  of  these  latter  chan- 
nels, opening  immediately  opposite  the  entrance  of  Admiralty  Inlet, 
they  passed  into  a  long  and  wide  gulf,  extending  north-westward  ; 
and,  after  proceeding  a  few  miles  within  it,  they,  on  the  !23d  of  June, 
unexpectedly  met  the  Spanish  schooners  Sutil  and  Mexicana,t  com- 
manded by  Lieutenants  Galiano  and  Valdes,  which  had  left  Nootka 
on  the  4th  of  the  month,  and  had  advanced  thus  far  along  the 
northern  shore  of  the  strait.  The  meeting  was,  doubtless,  vexatious 
to  the  commanders  of  both  the  parties,  each  being  naturally  anxious 
to  secure  to  himself  all  the  merit  which  might  be  acquired  by  deter- 
mining the  character  of  this  famous  arm  of  the  sea :  they,  however, 
received  and  treated  each  other  with  the  utmost  civility,  mutually 
exhibiting  their  charts  and  journals,  and  comparing  their  obser- 
vations ;  and,  having  agreed  to  unite  their  labors,  they  remained  to- 
gether three  weeks.  During  this  time,  they  surveyed  the  shores  of 
the  great  gulf  above  mentioned,  called  by  the  Spaniards  Canal  del 
Rosario,  and  by  the  English  the  Gulf  of  Georgia,  which  extended 

*  See  statement  of  the  British  commissioners,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations, 
in  tlie  latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  G. 

\  Vancouver  describes  these  vessels  as  "  each  about  forty-five  tons  burden,  mount- 
ing two  brass  guns,  and  navigated  by  twenty-four  men  ;  bearing  one  lieutenant,  with- 
out a  single  inferior  officer.  Their  apartments  just  allowed  room  for  sleeping-places 
on  each  side,  with  a  table  in  the  intermediate  space,  at  which  four  persons  could  with 
difHculty  sit ;  and  they  were,  in  all  other  respects,  the  most  ill-calculated  and  unfit 
vessels  that  could  possibly  be  imagined  for  such  an  expedition." 


»)•(- 


5F     i 


H^  ■■ 


1 


f 


''''i  i 


■I 

I 

■       :|    1 
1  .   ''i  'i! 


i 

'1 

■  ;  i 

1, 

-  !i 

"1 

;         ■   1  \ 

fl;lfl 

."  ■/  •> 

i  ^'1  jI;''' 

'a   ■ 

' 'HI 

y 

tf 


■Ai^ 


•■>'■■  y 

):  ■ 


LI 


240 


PASSAGE    TUUOroll    THE    STRAIT    OF    FUCA. 


[179^. 


north- westward  as  far  as  the  50th  degree  of  latitude ;  and  then,  on 
the  13th  of  July,  the  English  took  leave  of  their  Spanish  friends, 
who,  from  want  of  force,  were  unable  to  keep  up  with  them. 

On  parting  with  t!ie  Spaniards,  the  English  entered  a  passage, 
named  by  them  Johmtonc's  Strait,  leading  from  the  north-west  ex- 
tremity of  the  gulf:  and  after  a  long  and  didicult  navigation  through 
it,  they,  on  the  10th  of  August,  emerged  into  the  Pacific  at  Queen 
Charlotte's  Sound,  about  one  hundred  miles  north  of  Nootka. 
Having  been,  from  the  commencement,  persuaded  that  the  land  on 
the  western  side  of  the  strait  was  an  island,  they  had  devoted  their 
attention  particularly  to  the  eastetn  shores,  through  which  a  jjassago 
might  be  found  to  Hudson's  Bay  or  the  Arctic  Sea  ;  but  their  search 
proved  vain,  and,  after  tracing  to  their  terminations  in  the  interior  a 
number  of  long  and  intricate  inlets,  they  became  convinced  tliat 
the  continent  extended  uninterruptedly  northward,  at  least  to  tjio 
51st  parallel  of  latitude.  Immediately  on  entering  the  Pacific,  the 
Discovery  struck  on  a  rock,  and  scarcely  had  she  been  got  off  ere 
a  similar  misfortune  befell  the  Chatham ;  both  vessels,  however, 
escaped  with  little  injury,  and  they  soon  after  arrived  at  Nootka 
Sound.  Galiano  and  Valdes  also  passed  through  the  strait  by  the 
same  route,  and  reached  Nootka  in  safety  on  the  4th  of  September. 

After  the  arrival  of  the  Sutil  and  Mexicana  at  Nootka,  Vancouver 
and  the  Spanish  commander.  Quadra,  compared  together  the  notes 
and  charts  of  the  two  voyages  tlirough  tlu;  Strait  of  Fuca ;  and  it 
was  agreed  between  them,  that  the  great  island  which  that  arm  of 
the  sea  separated  from  the  American  continent  should  bear  the 
names  of  them  both.  It  has.  in  consequence,  ever  since  been  dis- 
tinguisiied  on  maps  by  the  long  and  inconvenient  appellation  of 
Island  of  (Quadra  and  Vancourcr,  which  it  will  scarcely  be  allowed 
to  retain,  when  that  part  of  the  world  shall  be  occupied  by  a  civil- 
ized people. 

This  survey  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca  was  conducted  in  the  most 
complete  and  effectual  nuinner  possible  by  Vancouver,  whose  ac- 
count of  it,  filling  a  large  portion  of  his  journ!il,  together  with  his 
charts,  afford  unequivocal  testimony  of  the  skill  and  perseverance  of 
the  British  navigators,  (laliano  and  Valdes  seem  also  to  have  done 
as  much  as  could  have  been  expected,  considering  the  smallness 
of  their  force  and  the  miserable  scale  of  their  equipments.  Had 
they  not  met  the  British  ships,  they  would,  doubtless,  have  found 
their  way  through  the  strait ;  but  they  could  never  have  made  even 
a  tolerable  survey  of  it,  as  they  must  have  left  a  number  of  passages 


1  :     ■!! 


d  then,  on 
sh  friends, 
len). 

a  passage, 
th-\vest  e.\- 
on  through 
c  at  Queen 
jf  Nootka. 
the  land  on 
ivoted  their 
h  a  passage 
their  search 
\c  interior  a 
ivinced  that 
least  to  tlio 

Pacific,  the 
1  fjot  off  ere 
Is,  however. 
1  at  Nootka 

strait  by  the 
f  September. 
II,  Vancouver 

i(>r  the  notes 
uca ;  and  it 
that  arm  of 
d  bear  the 

ice  been  dis- 
pellation  of 
be  allowed 

;d  by  a  civil- 

in  the  most 
T,  whose  ae- 
ther with  his 
rscverance  of 
to  have  done 
the  smallness 
ments.     Had 
have  found 
vc  made  even 
er  of  passages 


1792.] 


NEGOTIATIONS    AT    NOOTKA. 


241 


unexplored ;  and  the  world  would,  probably,  never  have  received 
any  detailed  report  of  their  operations.* 

Before  the  arrival  of  these  vessels  at  Nootka  Sound,  Captain 
Caamano  returned  from  his  search  for  the  Rio  de  Reyes  of  Ad- 
miral Fonte,  in  which  he  had  spent  two  months.  During  this 
period,  he  entered  many  of  the  openings  in  the  coasts  north  and 
north-east  of  Queen  Charlotte's  Island,  between  the  53d  and  the 
56th  parallels  of  latitude;  some  of  which  were  found  to  be  the 
mouths  of  bays,  or  of  inlets  running  far  inland,  and  others  to  be 
channels  separating  islands.  He  appears  to  have  displayed  much 
skill  and  industry  in  his  examinations,  as  Vancouver  indirectly 
testifies  in  his  narrative :  but  he  effected  no  discoveries  calculated 
to  throw  much  light  on  the  geography  of  that  part  of  the  coast ; 
and  his  labors  were  productive  of  advantage  only  in  so  far  as  they 
served  to  facilitate  the  movements  of  the  English  navigator,  to 
whom  his  charts  and  journals  were  e.xhibitcd  at  Nootka. 

At  Nootka,  Vancouver  found  the  store-shij)  Daedalus,  which 
brought  the  instructions  from  the  British  government  for  his  con- 
duct as  commissioner.  She  left  England  in  the  autumn  of  1791, 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Hergest ;  and,  passing  around 
Cape  Horn,  she,  in  the  latter  part  of  March,  1792,  fell  in  with  the 

*  The  voyage  of  the  Siitil  and  Mexicana  was  the  last  made  by  the  Spaniards  in 
the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  for  the  purjioses  of  discovery ;  and  tlie  only  one,  since  that 
of  Vizcaino,  of  which  an  authentic  account  has  been  jriven  to  tlie  world,  witii  the 
sanction  of  tlie  Spanish  governnient.  The  Journal  of  Galiano  and  Valdes  was  pub- 
lished at  Madrid  in  180:^,  by  order  of  tlic  king,  wtth  an  Introduction,  oflen  cited  in 
the  preceding  pages,  including  a  historical  sketch  of  the  exploring  voyages  of  the 
Spaniards  on  the  coasts  of  America,  north-west  of  Mexico  This  Introduction  is  the 
only  valuable  part  of  the  work  ;  the  nieagn'  and  ur.iuteresting  details  of  the  Journal 
having  been  superseded  by  the  full  and  luminous  descriptions  of  Vanco.ver:  it 
was  intended  —  as  a  defence  of  the  rights  of  Spiiin  to  the  north-west  portion  of 
America,  which  were  supposed  to  be  endangered  since  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to 
France  —  as  a  vindication  of  the  claims  of  Spanish  navigators  to  the  merit  of  dis- 
covering those  regions,  which  the  Itriti^h  were  endeavoring  to  monopolize  —  and  as  a 
reply  to  the  charges,  insinuations,  and  sarcasms,  against  the  intelligence,  liberality, 
and  good  faith,  of  the  Spanish  government  and  nation,  brought  forward  by  Fleurieu. 
It  was  compiled  chietly  from  the  original  journals  lud  other  documents,  in  the 
archives  of  the  Council  of  the  Indies,  relative  to  the  exploration  of  the  North  Pacific 
coasts;  and,  in  this  manner,  many  curious  if  not  important  facts  were  communi- 
cated, which  might  otherwise  have  remained  forever  buried.  It  is,  however,  to  be 
regretted  that  the  author  should  have  disfigured  his  work  —  as  he  has  in  every  part  in 
which  the  honor  or  interests  of  Spain  are  concerned  —  by  gross  and  palpable  misstate- 
ments of  circumstances,  respecting  which  he  undoubtedly  possessed  the  means  of 
arriving  at  the  truth.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  considered  a  sufficient  apology  for  him, 
that  his  book  was  published  by  the  Spanish  government,  at  Madrid,  in  18l>8,  as  we 
know  not  what  changes  may  have  been  made  in  it  by  insertions,  suppressions,  and 
alterations,  after  it  left  his  hands. 

31 


-•'-T  '■ 


"I 


.■M-,l 


•■:  ii 

J' 

1    ,1' 

it 
1  '  ', 

■  i:' 
1 

I 


''l    11 


I  i  ■  ■  i ; 


tri 


'V  i 


{■     1 


Ills  '    f;!,'l 


i 

■  1 

\  :  . 

1? 

t   Hi          ; 

■'4 

Mp'' 

*li  'i 

P   ,        ' 

'f..  ',    . 

'-   '' 

i. 

242 


LETTER    OF    OHAY    AND    INGRAIIAM. 


[1792. 


If^ 


m 


It!' 

1    M^iv;- 

'4 

1 

1 
1 

<  .vMiffr* 

1-  ' 

1            1 

1' 

1'          ■ 

ilviii 


)*'  ij 


M 


''ir? 


islands  in  the  centre  of  the  Pacific,  north  of  the  Marquesas,  which 
had  been  discovered  by  Ingraham  in  April  of  the  preceding  year. 
Sailing  thence,  she  reached  Woahoo,  one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
where  Lieutenant  Hergest  and  Mr.  Gooch,  the  astronomer,  wore 
murdered  by  the  natives,  on  the  11th  of  May;  after  which  she 
came  to  Nootka  Sound,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Now. 
Vancouver  gave  the  name  of  Hergest's  Islands  to  the  group  visited 
by  the  Da;dalus,  as  above  mentioned ;  and  so  they  are  called  in  his 
chart,  although,  as  he  says  in  his  journal,  he  had  been  informed 
that  they  had  been  previously  discovered  and  landed  on  by  some  of  the 
American  traders. 

For  his  conduct  as  commissioner,  Vancouver  was  referred  by  his 
instructions  to  the  convention  of  October,  1790,  and  to  a  letter 
brought  by  the  Daedalus  from  count  de  Florida  Blanca,  the  Spanish 
minister  of  state,  addressed  to  the  commandant  of  the  port  of  San 
Lorenzo  of  Nootka,  ordering  that  officer,  in  conformity  with  the 
first  article  of  the  convention,  to  put  his  Britannic  majesty's  com- 
missioner in  possession  of  the  buildings  and  districts,  or  parcels  of 
land,  which  were  occupied  by  his  subjects  in  April,  1789,  as  well 
in  the  port  of  Nootka  as  in  the  other,  said  to  be  called  Port  Cox, 
and  to  be  situated  about  sixteen  leagues  farther  southward.  A  copy 
of  this  order  had  been  given  to  Quadra,  on  his  departure  from 
Mexico ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  either  of  the  commissioners 
was  furnished  by  his  government  with  any  evidence  to  assist  him  in 
ascertaining  precisely  what  lands  were  to  be  restored,  or  for  what 
buildings  indemnification  was  to  be  made  by  the  Spaniards. 

In  order  to  supply  this  want  of  information.  Quadra  had,  imme- 
diately on  arriving  at  Nootka,  made  inquiries  on  the  subject  of 
Maquinna  and  other  chiefs  of  the  surrounding  tribes  ;  all  of  whom, 
without  hesitation,  denied  that  any  lands  had  been  purchased,  or 
any  houses  had  been  built  there,  by  the  English  at  any  time.  As 
the  testimony  of  the  savage  chiefs  could  not,  however,  be  of  much 
value  alone,  he  had  next  addressed  his  inquiries  to  Captains  Gray 
and  Ingraham,  who  arrived  at  Nootka  in  July,  as  already  stated, 
and  who  had  witnessed  the  proceedings  at  that  place  in  1789,  when 
the  former  commanded  the  Washington,  and  the  latter  was  f  t 
mate  of  the  Columbia ;  and  they,  in  answer,  sent  a  letter,  dated 
August  2d,  containing  a  clear  and  particular  statement  of  all  the 
circumstances  connected  with  the  occupation  of  Nootka,  and  the 
seizure  of  the  vessels  by  Martinez.  With  regard  to  the  particular 
points  in  question,  they  declare  unequivocally  that,  although  they 


..'"f  I 


1792.] 


PnOPOSITIONS    OF    (QUADRA. 


243 


had  been  in  habits  of  constant  intercourse  with  Maquinna  and  his 
people  for  nine  months,  they  had  never  heard  of  any  purchase  of 
lands  on  that  coast  by  British  subjects  ;  and  that  the  only  building 
seen  by  them,  when  they  reached  the  sound  in  September,  1789, 
was  a  rude  hut,  made  by  the  Indians,  which  had  been  destroyed 
long  before  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards.*  These  statements  were, 
in  all  resj)ects,  confirmed  by  Viana,  the  Portuguese,  who  had  been 
the  captain  of  the  Iphigenia  in  1788  and  1789,  and  who  was  then 
witli  his  vessel  at  Nootka  ;  and  the  Spanish  commissioner  tliereupon 
considered  himself  authorized  to  assume  that  no  lands  tvcrc  to  be 
restored,  and  no  buildings  to  be  replaced  or  paid  for  by  Spain. 

A  communication  to  this  effect,  with  copies  of  the  letters  of  Gray 
and  Ingraham  and  Viana,  was ,  accordingly,  addressed  by  Quadra 
to  Vancouver,  on  the  arrival  of  the  latter  at  Nootka.  The  Spanish 
commissioner,  however,  at  the  same  time  offered,  with  the  view  of 
removing  all  causes  of  disagreement  between  the  two  nations,  to 
surrender  to  the  British  the  small  spot  of  ground  on  the  shore  of 
Friendly  Cove,  which  had  been  temporarii}'  occupied  by  Meares  and 
his  people  in  1 788 ;  to  give  up,  Tor  their  use,  the  houses  and  cul- 
tivated lands  of  the  Spaniards  near  that  place ;  and  to  retire  with 
all  his  forces  to  Port  Nunez  Gaona,  in  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  (where 
an  establishment  had  been  begun  by  Fidalgo,)  until  the  two  govern- 
ments should  determine  further  on  the  matter:  with  the  under- 
standing, nevertheless,  that  this  cession  was  not  to  be  considered  as 
aflbcting  the  rights  of  his  Catholic  majesty  to  the  dominion  of  the 
territory,  and  that  Nootka  was  to  be  regurded  as  the  most  northern 
settlement  of  the  Spaniards,  to  whom  the  whole  coast  lying  south 
of  it,  and  the  adjacent  country,  was  to  be  acknowledged  to  belong 
exclusively. 

Vancouver,  on  the  other  hand,  hau  thought  proper  to  construe 
the  first  article  of  the  convention  of  1790  as  giving  to  his  country- 
men possession  of  the  whole  territory  surrounding  Nootka  and  Clyo- 
qmt;  and  he  therefore  refused  to  receive  what  was  otTered  by 
Quadra,  declaring,  with  regard  to  the  concluding  part  of  the 
Spaniard's  proposition,  that  he  was  not  authorized  to  enter  into  any 
discussion  as  to  the  rights  or  claims  of  the  respective  nations.  In 
this  conviction  he  was  supported  by  the  evidence  of  Robert  Duffin, 
the  former  mate  of  the  Argonaut,  who  happened  to  arrive  at  Nootka 
while  the  negotiation  was  in  progress.     This  person  testified  that 

*  S(>p  letter  of  Gray  and  Ingraham  to  Quadra,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations, 
in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  D. 


M' 


>*.  ,'i 


im 


,■  (I:: 


:■        V 


f 

f' 

n 

H'^ 

'  i 
■A' 

■  'f 

m\ 


f^H'm 


ii.  41. 


244 


DUFFIN  S    KVIPENCE. 


[1792. 


he  had  accompanied  Mr.  Menros  to  Nootka  in  1788,  with  his  two 
vessels,  which  sailed  under  Portuguosc  colors  and  under  the  nnme 
of  a  Portuguese  merchant,  for  the  purpose  of  avoiding  certain 
heavy  duties  at  Macao,  hut  were,  notwithstanding,  "  entirely  British 
property,  and  wholly  navigated  by  the  subjects  of  his  Britanuic 
mnjesty '/'  that  he  had  himself  been  present  when  Mr.  Menrcs 
purchased  "  from  the  two  chiefs,  Muquinna  and  Callicum,  the  whole 
of  the  land  that  forms  Friendly  Cove,  Nootka  Sound,  in  his  Bri- 
tannic majesty's  name,"  for  some  sheets  of  copper  and  triflinjr 
articles ;  that  the  natives  were  perfectly  satisfied,  and,  with  the 
chiefs,  did  homage  to  Mr.  Meares  as  sovereign  ;  that  the  British  ihi: 
—  noi  the  Portuguese  —  was  displayed  on  shore  on  that  occasion; 
that  Mr.  Mearts  caused  a  house  to  be  erected  on  a  convenient  spot. 
containing  three  bed-chambers,  with  a  mess-room  for  the  officers 
and  proper  apartments  for  the  men,  "surrounded  by  several  out- 
houses and  sheds  for  the  artificers  to  work  in,  all  of  which  he  left 
in  good  repair,  under  the  care  of  Maquinna  and  Callicum,  until  ho, 
or  some  of  his  associates,  should  return  ;  that  he,  Duffin,  was  not 
at  Nootka  when  Martinez  arrived  there,  but  he  understood  no  vestige 
of  the  house  remained  at  that  tiwe ;  and,  on  his  return  thither  in 
July,  1789,  he  found  the  Cove  occupied  by  the  subjects  of  his 
Catholic  majesty,  and  on  the  spot  on  which  the  house  had  stood 
were  the  tents  and  houses  of  some  of  the  people  of  the  ship 
Columbia.  U|)on  the  strength  of  this  testimony,  Vancouver  pro- 
nounced the  declarations  of  Messrs.  Gray  and  Ingraham  to  be  en- 
tirely false ;  and  he  takes  pains,  in  several  parts  of  his  work,  to 
animadvert,  in  severe  terms,  on  what  he  is  pleased  to  call  "  the 
wilful  misrepresentations  of  the  Americans,  to  the  prejudice  of 
British   subjects," 

On  the  points  to  which  Duffin's  statement  relates,  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  add  any  thing  to  what  has  been  already  said.  The  evidcnn 
is  presented  to  us  by  Vancouver,  in  the  form  of  an  abstract,  of  the 
correctness  of  which,  as  well  as  of  the  candor  of  that  officer,  we 
may  be  enabled  to  form  an  estimate,  by  comparing  his  abstract  of 
the  letter  from  Gray  and  Ingraham  to  Quadra,  with  the  letter  itself. 
It  will  be  thus  seen,  that  the  British  commander  has,  most  unfairly, 
garbled  the  testimony  of  the  American  traders,  by  suppressing  or 
altering  every  part  of  it  which  could  tend  to  place  his  countrymen, 
or  their  cause,  in  an  unfavorable  light,  or  to  excuse  the  conduct  of 
the  Spaniards  towards  them.  His  bitterness  towards  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  on  this  occasion,  may,  perhaps,  be  attributed 


tn,  the  whole 


1792.] 


NEGOTIATION    SUSPENDbU. 


245 


to  thu  circumstance,  that,  on  his  arrival  ut  Nuotka,  he  learned  the 
complete  success  >f  Gray  in  fuuling  u  large  river,  and  a  secure 
Imrbor,  on  a  coast  which  he  hud  himself  explored  in  vain  with  the 
same  objects. 

The  correspondence  between  the  two  commissioners  was  con- 
tinued for  some  weeks,  at  the  end  of  whi(  li,  finding  it  impossible 
to  efl'ect  any  detinitivc  arrangement,  they  agreed  to  submit  the 
matter,  with  all  the  additional  evidence  oLtuined  by  both  parties,  to 
their  respective  governments,  and  to  await  further  orders  ;  Nootka 
being,  in  the  mean  time,  considered  a  Spanish  port.'"'     Vancouver, 

•  The  preceding  ski-tch  of  the  negotiation  between  Vancouver  and  Quadra  is 
derived  from  tlie  JournaU  of  Vancouver,  tJaliano  and  Valdes,  and  Iiigraliani.  The 
following  nummary  account  of  the  business,  extracted  from  Iiij^raiiam's  Journal,  was 
drawn  up,  at  hit)  request,  by  Mr.  Uowel,  the  supercargo  of  the  American  brig  Mar- 
gart't,  who  acted  as  translator  for  Quadra,  and  saw  tlio  whole  of  tie  correspondence. 

"Tiie  indefinite  mode  of  expression  adopted  by  Messrs.  Fitzherbert  and  Florida 
Blanca  did  not  atlix  any  boundarit>s  to  the  cession  expected  by  (.ireat  Britain :  what 
the  buildings  were,  or  what  was  the  extent  of  the  tract  of  land  to  be  restored,  the 
pli'iiipotentiaries  did  not  think  proper  to  determine.  Don  Juan  Francisco,  having 
no  better  guide,  collected  the  best  t^videii''!'  he  could  procure,  and  that  could  enable 
him  to  determine  what  were  the  lands  and  buildings  of  which  the  British  subjects 
were  dispossessed,  and  which  the  tenor  of  the  first  article  of  the  convention  alone 
aiilliorized  him  to  restore.  The  result  of  this  investigation,  in  which  he  was  much 
aided  by  your  communication,  supported  by  tin?  unifi)rm  declarations  of  Maquinna 
and  his  tribe,  sulfu^iently  evinced  that  tin?  tract  was  a  small  corner  of  Friendly  Cove, 
and,  to  use  the  words  of  Captain  Vancouver,  little  more  than  a  hundred  yards  in  ex- 
tent any  way;  and  the  buildings,  according  to  your  information,  dwindled  to  one 
lint.  Senor  Quadra,  having  ascertained  the  limits  usually  occupied  by  Mr.  Meares, 
or  hia  servants,  was  ever  n'ady  to  deliver  it,  in  behalf  of  his  Catholic  majesty,  to  any 
envoy  tirom  the  British  court.  Cui>tain  Vancouver  arrived  at  Nootka  Sound  in  the 
latter  end  of  .•\ugU9t;  and  tiei'ior  Quadra  wrote  to  him  on  the  subject  of  their  re- 
spective orders,  and  enclosed  your  letter,  together  with  one  from  a  Captain  Viana,  a 
I'lirtiiguese,  who  passed  as  captain  of  the  Iphigenia,  when  she  was  detained  by  the 
Spaniards,  Don  Juan  Francisco,  in  his  letter,  avowed  his  readiness  to  put  Captain 
Vancouver  in  possession  of  the  tract  of  land  where  Mr.  Meares's  house  once  stood, 
which  alone  could  be  that  ceded  to  (Ireat  Britain  by  the  convention.  Senor  Quadra 
ntlered,  likewise,  to  leave  for  his  accommodation  all  the  houses,  gardens,  &c.,  which 
h^d  beer,  made  at  the  expense  of  his  Catholic  majesty,  as  ho  intended  leaving  the 
port  inmiediately.  In  the  same  letter,  he  tendered  Captain  Vancouver  offers  of 
every  service  and  assistance  which  hospitality  or  benevolence  could  dictate.  Cap- 
tain Vancouver,  in  reply,  gratefully  acknowledged  the  intended  favors,  but  entirely 
dissented  from  the  boundaries  affixed  by  Senor  Quadra  to  the  tract  of  land,  of  which 
he  was  to  receive  the  possession  and  property ;  and,  in  pursuance  of  his  directions, 
interpreted  the  first  article  as  a  cession  of  this  port,  viz.,  Js'ootka  Sound,  in  tola,  to- 
grtlier  with  Clyoquot,  or  Port  Cox.  He  disclaimed  all  retrospective  discussion  of  the 
rights,  pretensions,  «&c.,  of  the  two  courts,  and  also  of  the  actual  possessions  of  British 
subjects  in  Nootka  Sound,  deeming  it  irrek  vant  to  the  business  he  was  authorized 
to  transact,  and  only  to  be  settled  by  the  respective  monarchs.  The  letters  which 
followed  on  both  sides  were  merely  a  reiteration  of  the  foregomg  proposals  and 
demands.    Senor  Quadra  invited  to  a  discussion  of  the  boundaries,  &c.,  and  sup- 


» •<• 


\  v^f 


nf 


I,  \" 


:,!'; 


is 


.  I 


;  ■  i: 


I: 


!!■'  ■ 


I  ■  '1 


'}■■ 


.1.  'I' 
fcli  t 


I'r: 


346 


SURVEY    or    BULriNCII  S    IIARUOn. 


(17!)^'. 


<i   I: 


!  ,         i*"T 


nccordingly,  despatched  Lieutenant  Mudge,  by  way  of  Cliina,  to 
Mngland,  with  conununications  for  hin  government ;  and  he  tlicn 
prepared  for  his  own  departure  towards  the  south,  being  resolved  to 
examine  the  Cohnnbia  River  and  Bulfmch's  Harbor,  of  whi(!li  he 
had  received  from  Uuadra  copies  of  the  charts  given  to  that  ollictr 
by  Gray. 

Vancouver  sailed  from  Nootka,  with  his  three  vessels,  on  the  l.'jth 
of  October,  and,  on  the  18th,  he  was  opposite  Rulfinrh's  Hurlmr. 
to  examine  which  he  detached,  Lieutenant  Whidbey,  in  the  Dudn- 
lus,  while  he  himself  proceded  with  the  other  vessels  to  the  tnoiith 
of  the  Columbia.  Into  that  river  IJroughton  penetrated,  in  tin; 
Chatham,  on  the  iiOth :  the  Discovery  was  unable  to  pass  the  itar 
at  the  mouth  ;  and  Vancouver,  being  persuaded  that  the  stream  was 
inaccessible  to  large  ships,  <' except  in  very  line  weather,  wjih 
moderate  winds,  and  a  smooth  sea,"  sailed  to  the  Bay  of  Sun 
Francisco,  where  he  had  ordered  the  other  oflicers  to  join  him  in 
case  of  separation.  In  December  following,  the  whole  scjuadron 
was  reunited  at  JNIonterey,  where  Whidbey  and  Broughton  pre- 
sented  the  reports  of  their  observations. 

Whidbcy's  account  of  Bulfmcirs  Harbor  was  less  favorable  than 
Gray's;  from  both,  however,  it  appears  that  the  place  possesses 
advantages  which  must  render  it  important,  whenever  the  surrouiid- 
ing  region  becomes  settled.  It  atl'ords  a  safe  retreat  for  stmill 
vessels,  and  there  are  several  spots  on  its  shore  where  boats  may 
land  without  dilHculty  :  n)oreover,  it  is  the  oidy  harbor  on  the  coast, 
between  Cape  Mendocino  and  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  except  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia ;  and,  under  such  circumstances,  labor  and  in<;e. 
nuily  will  certainly  be  employed  to  correct  and  improve  what  nature 
has  ort'ered.  Upon  the  strength  of  this  survey,  the  place  has  b(  eii 
frequently  distinguished  on  British,  and  even  on  American  maps, 
as  IVIndbci/s  Harbor,  although  Vancouver  himself  has  not  |)re- 
tcnded  to  withhold  from  Gray  the  merit  of  discovering  it. 

Broughton.  as  before  mentioned,  entered  the  Columbia  with  the 


K  y 


m 


portod  liis  Pvidf  nro  witli  woll-proundrd  ronsoning;  yrt  Captain  Vancouver  steadily 
adliiTt'd  to  tlie  (Iciiiands  lie  tirnt  made,  and  refused  every  kind  of  diHCUssion.  'I'lu' 
definitive  letter  from  Senor  Quadra  was  transmitted  on  tlie  ir>tli  of  September;  liut, 
it  beinij  of  the  same  nature  with  the  preceding  ones,  Captain  V^aneouvt'r  only  rr- 
plied  by  a  repetition  of  his  former  avowal,  and  informing  the  Spanish  conunnndaiit 
that  ho  could  receive,  on  tlie  part  of  his  master,  the  Aing  of  ilritain,  no  other  terri- 
tories than  those  he  had  pointed  out  in  his  other  letters,  wiih  which  if  Sefior  Qiuidra 
did  not  comply,  he  must  retain  them  for  his  Catholic  majesty,  until  the  respective 
courts  should  determine  what  further  proceedings  they  might  deem  necessary." 


r 


1    ■!' 


noi.i 


imoUUilTON    SLUVKY3    TUB    CULUMUIA    IIIVKU. 


217 


Chathnm,  on  the  20th  of  October ;  and  ho  there,  to  his  surprise, 
found  lying  at  anchor  the  brig  Jenny,  from  Bristol,  which  hod  siiilcd 
from  Nootka  Sound  a  few  days  previous.  Scarcely  had  tlie  Chat- 
lianj  cllected  an  entrance  ere  she  ran  aground ;  and  the  channel 
proved  to  bo  so  intricate,  that  Broughton  determined  to  leave  her 
about  four  miles  from  the  mouth,  and  to  proceed  up  the  stream  in 
his  <;utter.  A  short  account  of  his  survey  will  bo  sufficient,  as  it 
would  bo  unnecessary  to  present  an  abridgment  of  the  long  and 
minute  description  given  in  the  journal  of  Vancouver. 

The  portion  of  the  Columbia  near  the  sea  was  found  by  Brough- 
tou  to  be  about  seven  miles  in  width ;  its  depth  varied  from  two 
fiitlioms  to  eight,  and  it  was  crossed  in  every  direction  by  shoals, 
which  must  always  render  the  navigation  difficult,  even  by  small 
vessels.  Higher  up,  the  stream  become  narrower,  and,  at  the 
(iistancc  of  twenty-five  miles  from  its  mouth,  its  breadth  did  not 
oxcccd  a  thousan<l  yards.  These  circumstances  were  considered  by 
Broughton  and  Vancouver  as  authorizing  them  to  assume  that  the 
true  entrance  of  the  river  teas  at  the  last-mentioned  yoint,  and  that 
the  waters  between  it  and  the  ocean  constituted  an  inlet  or  sound.* 
From  the  extremity  of  this  inlet,  the  party  rowed  eighty  miles  up 
the  river,  in  a  south-west  course,  to  a  bend,  where,  the  current 
hciiig  so  ra|)id  as  to  prevent  them  from  advancing  without  great 
liibor,  they  abandoned  the  survey,  and  returned  to  their  vessel. 
The  angle  of  land  around  which  the  river  flowed,  and  where  their 
proijross  was  arrested,  received  the  appellation  of  Poi7it  Vancouver ; 
the  part  of  the  inlet  wh«?re  the  ship  Columbia  lay  at  anchor  during 
her  visit,  was  called  Grai/s  Bay  ;  and  that  immediately  within  Cape 
Disappointment  was  named  Baker's  Bay,  in  compliment  to  the 
captain  of  the  Jenny.     On  the  lOth  of  November,  the  Chatham 

*  "  I  Bhall  conclude  tliis  nccount  of  i\w  Coluinbia  River  by  a  fi-w  short  remarks 
thiit  Mr.  Hroui^liton  made  in  the  course  of  its  survey,  in  liis  own  words.  '  Tho 
(iiscovcry  of  this  river,  we  were  given  to  understand,  is  claimed  by  the  Spaniards, 
wlio  called  it  Entradu  tlr  Ctta,  after  tiie  commander  of  tiie  vessel  who  is  said  to  be  its 
first  discoverer,  but  who  never  entered  it;  he  places  it  in  4(>  degrees  north  latitude, 
it  is  the  same  opening  that  Mr.  Gray  stated  to  us,  in  the  spring,  he  had  been  nine 
days  off,  the  former  year,  but  could  not  get  in,  in  consequence  of  the  outsetting 
current ;  that,  in  the  course  of  the  late  summer,  he  had,  however,  entered  the  river, 
or  rather  the  sound,  and  had  named  it  after  the  ship  he  then  commanded.  The  ox- 
tent  Mr.  Gray  became  acquainted  with  on  that  occasion  is  no  further  than  what  I 
have  called  Gray's  Bay,  not  more  than  fifteen  miles  from  Cape  Disappointment, 
though,  according  to  Mr.  Gray's  sketch,  it  measures  thirty-six  niiles.  By  his  calcu- 
lation, its  entrance  lies  in  latitude  46  degrees  10  minutes,  longitude  237  degrees  18 
minutes,  differing  materially,  in  these  respects,  from  our  observations.'  "  —  Vancou- 
ver, vol.  ii.  p.  74. 


.I| 


11 

'ilMil 

i.i 

ill! 


*    I 


'  ) 


348 


UNWORTHY    CONDUCT    OF    VANCOUVEH. 


[1792. 


quitted  the  Columbia,  in  company  with  the  Jenny,  and  arrived  at 
Port  San  Francisco  before  the  end  of  the  month. 

The  distinction  '.vhich  Vancouver  and  Broughton  have  thus  en- 
deavored to  estabhsh  between  the  upper  and  the  lower  portions  of 
the  Columbia,  is  entirely  destitute  of  foundation,  and  at  variance 
with  the  principle's  of  our  whole  geographical  nomenclature.  Inlets 
and  sounds  are  arms  of  the  sea,  running  up  into  the  land ;  and  their 
waters,  being  supplied  from  the  sea,  are  necessarily  salt :  the  waters 
of  the  Columbia  are,  on  the  contrary,  generally  fresh  and  potable 
within  ten  miles  of  the  Pacific ;  the  volume  and  the  overbearing 
force  of  the  current  being  sufficient  to  prevent  the  farther  ingress 
of  the  ocean.  The  question  appears,  at  first,  to  be  oi"  no  conse- 
quence :  the  following  extract  from  Vancouver's  journal  will,  how- 
ever,  serve  to  show  that  the  quibble  was  devised  by  the  British 
navigators,  with  the  unworthy  object  of  depriving  Gray  of  the 
merits  of  his  discovery :  "  Previously  to  his  [Broughton's]  depart- 
ure, he  formally  took  possession  of  the  river,  and  the  country  in  its 
vicinity,  in  his  Britannic  majesty's  name,  having  every  reason  to 
believe  that  the  subjects  of  no  other  civilized  nation  or  state  had  ever 
entered  this  river  before.  In  this  opinion  he  was  confirmed  by  ]\lr. 
Gray^s  sketch,  in  which  it  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  Gray  either  saw 
or  ever  loas  within  five  leagues  of  its  cntrance.^^  This  unjust  view 
has  been  adopted  by  the  British  government  and  writers,  and  also, 
doubtless  from  inadvertency,  by  some  distinguished  authors  in  the 
United  States.  It  may  be,  indeed,  considered  fortunate  for  Gray, 
that,  by  communicating  the  particulars  of  his  discoveries,  as  he  did, 
to  <luadra,  he  secured  an  unimpeachable  witness  in  support  of  his 
claims ;  had  he  not  done  so,  the  world  would  probably  never  have 
learned  that  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  was  the  first  to  enter  the 
greatest  river  flowing  from  America  into  the  Pacific,  and  to  find  the 
only  safe  harbor  on  the  long  line  of  coast  between  Port  San  Fran- 
cisco and  the  Strait  of  Fuca. 

At  San  Francisco  and  Monterey,  Vancouver  surveyed  the  bays, 
and  examined  the  Spanish  establishments,  of  which  he  presents 
minute  and  graphic  descriptions  in  his  narrative ;  and  he  obtained 
satisfactory  evidence  that  the  presidio  of  San  Francisco,  ntuated 
near  the  entrance  of  the  bay,  in  latitude  of  37  degrees  48  minutes, 
tvas  the  northernmost  spot,  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  America,  occupied 
by  the  Spaniards  previous  to  the  month  of  May,  1789,  and  was,  con- 
sequently, according  to  the  convention  of  1790,  the  northernmost 
spot  on  that  coast  over  which  Spain  could  exercise  exclusive  juris- 


1793.] 


EXECUTION    OF    MURDERERS    AT    WOAHOO. 


249 


diction.  At  Monterey,  the  English  commander  again  met  and 
conferred  with  the  Spanish  commissioner  Quadra ;  and  it  was 
agreed  between  them,  that  Lieutenant  Broughton  should  proceed 
to  Europe,  across  Mexico,  with  further  communication?,  for  their 
respective  courts,  on  the  subject  of  the  arrangement  of  the  ques- 
tions at  issue.  These  affairs  having  been  concluded,  the  Daedalus 
was  sent  to  New  South  Wales ;  and  Vancouver  proceeded,  with 
the  Discovery  and  Chatham,  the  latter  under  Lieutenant  Puget,  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  where  they  arrived  in  the  middle  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1793. 

At  Owyhee,  the  English  ships  were  visited  by  Tamahamaha, 
who  was,  by  this  time,  acknowledged  as  king  of  the  island 
by  all  the  other  chiefs  except  Tamaahmoto,  the  murderer  of  the 
crew  of  the  Fair  American.  Vancouver  immediately  recognized 
the  authority  of  Tamahamaha,  to  which  he  endeavored,  but  in  vain, 
to  prevail  on  the  others  to  submit;  he  then  sailed  to  Movvee,  where 
he  succeeded  in  negotiating  a  peace  between  Titeree,  king  of  that 
island,  and  the  sovereign  of  Owyhee,  and  thence  to  Woahoo,  where 
he  superintended  the  trial  and  execution  of  three  natives,  who 
had  been  delivered  up  to  him  as  the  murderers  of  Hergest  and 
Ciooch.  the  officers  of  the  Daedalus.  The  particulars  of  these 
judicial  proceedings  are  detailed  with  precision  by  Vancouver,  who 
seems  to  have  been  perfectly  content  with  their  regularity  and 
correctness ;  nevertheless,  when  Broughton  visited  the  island,  in 
1796,  he  was  assured,  as  he  says,  "that  the  men  who  were  exe- 
cuted alongside  of  the  Discovery  had  not  committed  the  murders, 
but  were  unfortunate  beings  whom  the  chief  selected  to  satisfy 
Captain  Vancouver."  *  This  appears  to  be  certain  from  subsequent 
accounts;  and  it  seems  to  be  somewhat  strange,  that  Vancouver 
should  not  have  suspected  it  to  have  been  the  case,  at  the  time  of 
the  trial. 

Having  performed  these  acts  of  diplomacy  and  justice  in  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  Vancouver  proceeded  to  the  American  coasts; 
and,  after  examirting  the  portion  near  Cape  Mendocino,  including 
the  place  called  Port  Trinidad  by  the  Spaniards,  in  1775,  so  as  to 
connect  his  surveys  north  and  south  of  that  portion,  he  sailed  to 
Nootka,  where  he  arrived  on  the  '20tl\  of  May,  1793.  The  remain- 
der of  the  warm  season  was  passed  by  the  British  navigators  in 
making  a  minute  and  laborious  examination  of  the  shores  of  the 

•  Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  the  Pacific,  from   1793  to  1797,  by  Captain   Robert 
Broughton,  p.  42. 

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250       PRETENDED    CESSION    OF    OWYHEE    TO    GREAT    BRITAIN.   [1794 

continent,  and  the  islands  in  its  vicinity,  from  the  northern  entrance 
of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  near  the  5 1  st  degree  of  latitude,  northward 
as  far  as  the  54th  parallel ;  tracing  to  their  terminations,  as  in  the 
preceding  year,  all  the  passages  which  appeared  to  run  eastward,  as 
well  as  many  others,  which  were  found  to  be  channels  separating 
islands  <'rom  each  other  or  from  the  main  land.  Several  open- 
ings still  remained  unexplored  beyond  the  54th  parallel ;  but  the 
weather  became  so  stormy  at  the  end  of  September,  that  the 
survey  could  no  longer  be  continued  with  safety  or  advantage: 
Vancouver  accordingly  returned  along  the  western  side  of  Queen 
Charlotte's  f»(land  to  Nootka,  and  thence  took  his  departure  for 
Port  San  Francisco,  which  he  reached  on  the   lOtli  of  October. 

From  Port  San  Francisco  the  British  navigators  sailed  along  the 
shores  of  California  —  which  Vancouver  takes  care  always  to  call 
New  Albion — as  far  south  as  San  Diego,  near  the  33d  degree  of 
latitude,  visiting  every  important  point  on  their  way,  and  observing 
the  coasts  with  great  exactness ;  and  thence,  in  the  middle  of  De- 
cember, they  went  to  Owyhee,  where  they  found  that  the  supremacy 
of  Tamahamaha  was  admitted,  though  with  some  qualifications,  by 
the  people  and  the  other  chiefs.  Here  Vancouver  succeeded  in 
effecting  a  reconciliation  between  the  king  and  Tahowmannoo, 
his  sultana,  (since  better  known  as  Kaahumanu.)  from  whom  he 
had  been  for  some  time  separated  on  account  of  her  open  and 
repeated  infidelities ;  and  he  soon  after  gave  further  proof  of  his 
talents  as  negotiator,  in  a  transaction  the  particulars  of  which  do 
not  appear  to  have  been  understood  in  the  same  light  by  both 
the  parties. 

The  navigator  states  that  a  strong  disposition  had  been  manifested 
by  several  chiefs,  at  the  time  of  his  first  visit,  to  place  their  island 
under  subjection  to  the  British  king,  but  that  it  had  been  opposed 
by  other  chiefs,  on  the  ground  that  they  should  not  surrender 
themselves  to  a  superior  foreign  power,  unless  they  were  assured 
that  they  would  thus  bo  really  protected  against  distant  and 
neighboring  enemies.  At  the  time  of  his  second  visit,  however, 
he  found  the  disposition  to  submit  much  increased,  and,  as  he  says, 
"  Under  a  conviction  of  the  importance  of  these  islands  to  Great 
Britain,  in  ♦he  event  of  an  extension  of  her  commerce  over  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  in  return  for  the  essential  services  we  had 
derived  from  the  excellent  productions  of  the  country,  and  wie 
ready  assistance  of  its  inhabitants,  I  lost  no  opportunity  for  encour- 
aging  their  friendly  dispositions  toward   us,   notwithstanding  the 


1794.]    PRETENDED    CESSION    OF    OWYHEE    TO    GREAT    BRITAIN.       251 


disappointments  they  had  met  from  the  traders,  for  whose  conduct 
I  could  invent  no  apology;  endeavoring  to  impress  them  with  the 
idea  that,  on  submitting  to  the  authority  and  protection  of  a  superior 
power,  they  might  reasonably  expect  they  would  in  future  be  less 
liable  to  such  abuses."  Acting  under  these  views,  he  conciliated 
Tamahamaha  by  building  for  him  a  small  vessel,  on  which  the 
0uns  taken  from  the  schooner  Fair  American  were  mounted ;  and, 
having  induced  all  the  principal  chiefs  to  mf;et  him  on  the  shore 
near  liis  ships,  it  was  determined,  at  the  assembly,  that  Owyhee 
should  be  ceded  to  his  Britannic  majesty ;  it  being,  however, 
clearly  understood,  that  no  interference  was  to  take  place  in  the 
reUs;ion,  government,  and  domestic  economy,  of  the  island — ''that 
Tamahamaha,  the  chiefs,  and  priests,  ivere  to  continue,  as  usual,  to 
officiate,  with  the  same  authority  as  before,  in  their  respective  stations, 
and  that  no  alteration  in  those  particulars  was  in  any  degree  thought 
of  or  intended."  So  soon  as  this  resolution  was  announced.  Lieu- 
tenant Puget,  the  commander  of  the  Chatham,  landed,  displayed 
the  British  colors,  and  took  possession  of  the  island  in  the  name  of 
his  sovereign  ;  after  which  a  salute  was  fired  from  the  vessels,  and  a 
copper  plate  was  depositfnl  in  a  coiis[)icuous  place  at  the  royal  resi- 
dence, bearing  the  following  inscription  :  "  On  the  25th  of  February, 
1794,  Tamahamaha,  king  of  Owyhee,  in  council  with  the  principal 
chiefs  of  the  island,  assembled  on  board  his  Britannic  majesty's 
sloop  Discovery,  in  Karakakooa  Bay,  and,  in  presence  of  George 
Vancouver,  commander  of  the  said  sloop.  Lieutenant  Peter  Puget, 
commander  of  his  said  majesty's  armed  tender  the  Chatham,  and 
the  other  officers  of  the  Discovery,  after  due  consideration,  unani- 
mously ceded  the  said  island  of  Owyhee  to  his  Britainiic  majesty, 
and  acknowledged  themselves  to  be  subjects  of  Great  Britain." 

That  Vancouver  assumed  more  than  was  warranted,  in  thus 
asserting  the  cession  of  Owyhee,  and  the  subjection  of  its  chiefs  to 
Great  Britain,  is  clear ;  not  only  from  the  subsequent  declarations 
of  the  ^hiefs,  that  they  only  intended  to  place  themselves  under  the 
protection  of  that  power,  but  also  from  the  understanding  estab- 
lished between  them  and  the  navigator,  that  there  was  to  be  no 
interference  in  their  internal  concerns.  At  farthest,  the  transaction, 
even  if  ratified  by  the  British  government,  can  only  be  viewed  as 
an  engagement,  on  the  part  of  the  islanders,  not  to  cede  their 
country  to  any  other  nation,  and,  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  to 
secure  them  against  conquest  or  oppression  by  any  other.  Most 
probably  each  of  the  parties  merely  desired  to  obtain  for  itself  as 


li' 


I'M       I 


I'l 


252 


TAMAAHMOTO    RECEIVED    BY    VANCOUVER. 


[1794. 


^$}       ' 


\:^t 


If 


'i'^ 


"1' 


■hi, 


fi-^: 


many  advantages  as  could  be  derived  from  the  transaction,  without 
any  intention  to  observe  concomitant  obligations.  Tamahaniaha 
expected  to  receive  assistance  from  Great  Britain  in  conquering  the 
remaining  islands  of  the  group ;  and  Vancouver  wished  to  prevent 
other  nations  from  resorting  to  Owyhee.  It  may  be  added,  that 
Great  Britain  has,  to  this  day,  been  little,  if  at  all,  benefited  by  the 
Sandwich  Islands ;  and  that  Tamahamaha,  thougn  he  lived  and 
flourished  for  twenty-five  years  after  the  transaction  above  men- 
tioned, never  received  a  present,  or  even  a  message  of  any  kind, 
from  his  brother  King  George,  to  whom  he,  however,  occasionally 
sent  a  message  by  a  whaling  captain,  reminding  him  that  Vancou- 
ver's promise  of  a  ship  of  war  had  not  yet  been  fulfilled.  No  such 
promise  is  recorded  in  the  journal  of  Vancouver ;  though  it  there 
appears  that  the  islanders  had  reason  to  believe  that  a  vessel  of  war 
would  be  sent,  for  their  protection,  from  Great  Britain. 

Another  circumstance  connected  with  this  pretended  cession  of 
Owyhee  to  the  British  deserves  particular  notice.  The  consumma- 
tion was  delayed  for  some  time,  on  account  of  the  absence  of 
Tamaahmoto,  or  Kamamoko,  one  of  the  most  powerful  chiefs,  the 
same  who,  in  February,  1790,  captured  the  schooner  Fair  American, 
and  murdered  her  crew,  as  already  stated.  Vancouver  had,  at 
first,  refused  to  receive  this  man,  or  to  have  any  intercourse  with 
him  ;  but  when  it  was  found  to  be  indispensable  for  the  cession, 
that  Tamaahmoto  should  give  his  vote  in  favor  of  it,  the  British 
commander  began  "  seriously  to  reflect  on  all  the  circumstances 
that  had  attended  his  visits  to  the  islands ;  "  and  he,  in  the  end, 
became  "  thoroughly  convinced  that  implacable  resentment  or  un- 
relenting anger,  exhibited  ni  his  own  practice,  would  ill  accord 
with  the  precepts  which  he  had  endeavored  to  inculcate  for  the 
regulation  of  theirs."  He  therefore  "  determined,  by  an  act  of 
oblivion  in  his  own  mind,  to  eflface  all  former  injuries  and  oftences," 
which  he  probably  found  no  difficulty  in  doing,  as  th(;  injuries  and 
offences  were  committed  against  citizens  of  the  United  States ;  and 
he  accordingly  intimated  that  he  would  "  no  longer  regard  Tamaah- 
moto as  undeserving  forgiveness,  and  would  allow  of  his  paying  the 
compliments  as  he  had  so  repeatedly  requested,  provided  he  would 
engage,  in  tiie  most  solemn  manner,  that  neither  himself  not  his 
people  (for  he  generally  moved  with  a  numerous  train  of  attendants) 
would  behave  in  any  manner  so  as  to  disturb  the  subsisting  harmony." 
On  receiving  this  intimation,  Tamaahmoto  readily  came  forward ; 
he  was  admitted  to  the  table  of  the  British  commander,  and  was 


1791.]    VANCOUVEH    COMPLETES    THE    SURVEY    OF    THE    COAST.        253 

one  of  the  seven  chiefs  who  assented  to  the  cession.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  show  what  inference  the  natives  of  tlie  Sandwich 
Islands  might  draw  from  a  comparison  between  the  favor  tlius 
shown  to  the  murderer  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
trial  and  execution  of  the  persons  who  were  charged  with  causing 
the  deaths  of  the  officers  of  the  British  vessel  at  Woahoo.* 

Soon  after  these  transactions,  the  British  navigators  took  their 
final  leave  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and,  returning  to  the  north-west 
coasts  of  America,  examined  overy  port  which  they  had  not  previ- 
ously visited,  from  the  peninsula  of  Aliaska,  eastward  and  southward, 
to  Queen  Charlotte's  Island.  They  began  at  Cook's  River,  and, 
having  ascertained  that  no  great  stream  entered  that  bay,  they 
changed  its  name  to  Cook^s  Inlet,  which  is  now  most  commonly 
applied  to  it.  They  then  proceeded  to  Prince  William's  Sound,  the 
shores  of  which  were  completely  surveyed  ;  and  thence  along  the 
bases  of  Mounts  St.  Elias  and  Fairwcather,  to  the  great  opening 
in  the  coast,  near  the  58th  de:^reo  of  latitude,  which  had  been  called 
hy  Cook  Cross  Sound.  In  Cook's  Inlet  and  Prince  William's 
Sound,  they  visited  all  the  Russian  establishments,  of  which  Van- 
couver presents  full  and  satisfactory  accounts;  and,  having  succeeded 
ill  proving  that  the  j)lace  in  which  Bering  anchored  on  his  last 
c.vpcdition  could  be  no  other  than  that  called  Admiralty  Bay,  at 
the  foot  of  Mount  St.  Elias,  on  the  east,  they  gave  to  it  the  name  of 
Bcriiii>^\s  Bay,  and  as  such  it  generally  apj)ears  on  English  charts  : 
the  Russians  call  it  the  liny  of  Ynkutnt. 

Through  Cross  Sound.  Vancouver  pas-'^'.fl  into  a  labyrinth  of 
channels,  some  among  islands,  others  running  far  inland,  and  termi- 
nating in  the  midst  of  stupendous  mountains  ;  and,  having  succeeded 
in  threading  nearly  all  these  passages,  particularly  those  taking  a 
nortiiern  or  eastern  direction,  and  thus  joined  his  survey  with  that  of 
tlie  preceding  year,  he  considered  his  task  acconiplislitd.  He  had 
made  known  the  existriioe  of  an  almost  infinite  nnnil)er  of  islands, 
between  the  54th  an<i  the  58th  parallels,  in  the  posilioi.  assigned 
to  the  Archipclasro  of  S(.  Lazarus,  in  the  story  of  Fontc's  voyage : 
but  whilst  a  part  of  that  story  thus  seiMued  to  be  confirmed,  the 
remainder  was  supposed  to  be  entirely  disproved,  as  no  great  river 

*  Tamaahnioto  did  not,  howcvor,  s<tuj-,v'  ti)  dorlarc,  two  years  uftorwarils,  that  he 
would  take  the  first  vessel  whirh  iiiisiiit  rome  within  his  reach;  and  so  little  etFeet 
had  tiie  e/<'C?/t/«n.s  at  Woahoo,  that  (^iplain  Brown,  ot"  tiie  British  ship  BiUterwortli, 
was  killed,  in  January,  ]7'Xt,  liy  the  natives  ol'  that  island,  in  an  attack  which  they 
made  on  his  vessel  vvitli  the  intention  to  take  her.  —  See  Broughton's  account  of  his 
voyage  in  the  Pacific,  p.  43. 


>  |.t>| 


■!  I 


I'^Pr 


254 


STIKINE     RIVER. 


[1794. 


m- 


■  ?■ 


was  found  issuing  from  the  continent  opposite  these  islands ;  and 
Vancouver  became  well  satisfied  "  that  the  precision  with  which 
his  survey  had  been  conducted  would  remove  every  doubt,  and  set 
aside  every  opinion  of  a  north-west  passage,  or  any  water  communi- 
cation navigable  for  shipping,  between  the  North  Pacific  and  the 
interior  of  the  American  continent,  within  the  limit  of  his  re- 
searches." Tlie  belief  thus  expressed  by  the  navigator  has  been 
completely  confirmed.  It  must,  nevertheless,  be  admitted  that,  con- 
sidering the  intricacies  in  the  coasts  between  the  48th  and  the  58th 
parallels,  many  passages,  by  which  vessels  could  penetrate  into  the 
interior  of  the  continent,  might  have  long  escaped  the  notice  of  the 
most  careful  observer ;  and  in  evidence  of  this  is  the  fact,  that  a 
river  called  t!«e  Stikinc*  three  miles  wide  at  its  mouth,  and  a  mile 
ulJo  thirty  miles  higher  up,  has  been,  since  Viiucouver's  voyage, 
found  ontering  the  arm  of  the  sea  named  by  him  Prince  Frederick's 
Souini,  in  the  latitude  of  56  degrees  50  minutes.  Vancouver's 
iivilure  to  discover  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  should  have  ren- 
dered him  distrustful  of  the  entire  accuracy  of  his  observations  in 
such  cases. 

After  completing  these  discoveries,  Vancouver  took  possession  of 
t!io  |>art  of  the  continent  extending  north-westward  of  that  around 
tho  Strait  of  Fuca,  which  he  had  named  JS'cw  Georgia,  as  far  as 
the  59lh  degree  of  latitude,  and  of  all  the  adjacent  islands,  ••  in 
the  name  of  his  Britannic  majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors,"  with 
the  formalities  usutil  on  such  occasions,  including  a  double  aUow- 
ance  of  grog  to  tlie  sailors.  He  also  bestowed  upon  the  various 
territories,  straits,  bays,  &.c.,  names  derived  almost  entirely  from 
the  lists  of  the  members  of  the  royal  family,  the  ministry,  the  Par- 
liament, the  army  and  the  navy  of  Great  Britain ;  the  importance 


*  Viinrouvor  inrntioiis  Stikrrn  as  tlic  naino  of  a  rnuntry  or  nation  on  tlu"  c<mti- 
nental  shun'  of  Prince  Frodrrii'k's  Hound  ;  and  lie  lioard,  from  tlie  natives  fartlior 
south,  of  a  place  in  that  sound  called  hy  them  ron-vas.i,  which  word  seemed  to  iiiran 
great  cliiiiiiiil.  The  first  intiiiintiim  of  tlic  existence  of  the  river  \v:us  prohahlv  cfiu- 
nmnicated  to  the  world  hy  the  captain  of  th(;  shi[)  Atahiialpa,  of  Hoston,  from  wIkim- 
journal  an  extract  is  puhlished  in  the  Collections  of  the  Rlassachnsctts  llis'urir:.' 
Society  for   1~(I4,  p.  ti-1'2.     Tht    (  iptai;;  there  says, — 

"  Auifust  'J'lth,  l~llli.  I  had  sotiie  conversation  with  <.'ou  (a  chief  of  an  island  near 
Q\iten  Charlotte's  Sound)  resju'c^ing  the  natives  who  inhahit  the  country  liai:k  of 
Stikeen  :  he  had  his  information  from  Cokshoo,  the  Stikeen  chief  »  »  «  (\,n 
also  informs  me  that  the  place  called  .Xii.ss,  or  l'(in-niiss  (spoken  of  hy  Vancouver)  liy 
the  natives  in  Chebass  Strait,  (frince  Fre<lerifk's  Sound,)  is  the  month  of  a  river  iif 
very  considerahle  extent,  hut  unknown,  navijrable  for  vessels  or  lariif  canoes."  Near 
this  place,  the  Atahualpa  was  attacked,  in  January,  Ir'O't,  and  h -r  captain,  mate,  and 
six  seamen,  were  killed  ;  the  others  of  her  crew  succeed'jd  in  escaping  with  the  vessel. 


[1794. 


1794.] 


NAMES    OF    PLACES    ON    THE    NORTH-WEST    COAST. 


255 


slands;  and 
with  which 
lubt,  and  set 
or  comniuni- 
ific  and  the 

of  his  re- 
or  has  been 
ed  that,  con- 
and  the  58th 
trate  into  the 
notice  of  the 
c  fact,  that  a 
ji,  and  a  mile 
iver's  voyage, 
cc  Frederick's 

Vancouver's 
lid  liavo  ren- 
bservations  in 

,  possession  of 
oi  that  around 
as  far  as 


•frut 


islands,  'in 
ccssors,"  with 
double  allow- 
)n  the  various 

entirely  from 
istry,  the  Tiu- 
le  iinportanco 

lion  on  the  ccmti- 

lu"   natives  fartlier 

(1  sceuicd  to  mean 

;is  probaWy  eom- 

iston,  from  whoso 

husetts  Historical 

oi'  an  island  near 
.  eovintry  ha^  k  "1 
,f  *  »  *  ("oil 
IliV  VaneimvtT)  by 
lioiith  of  a  river  of 
lie  Cannes.'  Nt'ar 
piiptain,  mate,  and 
lii<r  with  the  vessel. 


of  the  place  thus  distinguished  being  generally  in  proportion  to  the 
rank  of  the  individual.  Thus  we  find  upon  his  chart  of  the  north- 
west archipelago,  the  large  islands  or  groups  of  King  George  the 
Third,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  the  Diike  of  York,  and  the  Admiralty ; 
with  the  smaller  ones  of  Pitt,  Hatvlcesbunj,  Dundas,  and  Burke ; 
between  which  are  the  Duke  of  Clarence's  Strait,  Prince  Frederick's 
Sound,  Chatham  Canal,  Grenville  Canal,  and  Stcphens^s  Passage  : 
a  small  group,  near  the  55th  parallel,  partially  surveyed  by  Caamano, 
in  1791,  was  allowed  to  retain  the  name  of  Revillagigedo  Islands, 
in  honor  of  the  enlightened  viceroy  of  Mexico,  The  capes,  bays, 
and  smaller  points  or  channels,  are  distributed  among  the  Windhams, 
U'alpoles,  and  other  high  families,  principally  those  belonging  to 
the  Tory  party ;  one  little  point  being,  however,  vouchsafed  to 
Charles  James  Fox.  Without  questioning  the  right  of  the  discov- 
erer to  impose  these  names,  it  may  be  observed,  that  none  of  them 
will,  in  all  probability,  ever  be  used  by  the  iniiabitants  of  the  region 
in  which  the  place  so  called  is  situated.  The  Russians,  who  occupy 
the  islands  and  coasts  of  the  main-land  north  of  the  54th  parallel, 
riiiorously  ex<,'lude  from  their  charts,  and  from  use  in  every  way,  the 
appellations  assigned  to  places  in  their  dominions  by  people  of  other 
civilized  countries ;  and  even  the  British  traders,  whose  posts  extend 
through  the  parts  of  the  continent  distinguished  by  Vancouver  as 
Xcw  Georgia,  Nvw  Hanover,  New  Cornwall,  and  I^civ  Norfolk, 
appear  to  be  entirely  ignorant  of  those  names. 

Fron\  tlie  northern  roasts,  Van(;ouver,  when  his  labor  was  ended, 
went  to  Nootka.  where  he  toimd  the  Spaniards  still  in  possession, 
under  tlie  command  of  IJrigadier  Alava  ;  Quatlra  having  died  in  the 
preceding  spring,  at  San  Bias.  As  no  informiition  had  been  received 
there  from  Euro[)e  respecting  the  surrender  of  the  territories,  the 
British  commander  saih'd  to  Monterey,  where  he  learned  that  the 
question  had  Imcu  '•  adjusted  by  tlu^  two  courts  amicably,  and  nearly 
oil  tJK!  terms  which  he  had  repeatedly  olVered  to  Quadra  in  Sep- 
teinher,  171)2 ;"  and  also  •-that  the  buj-iiiess  was  not  to  be  carried 
into  execution  by  him,  as  a  frish  commission  had  been  issued  for 
the  purpose  by  the  court  of  liondon."'  Un<l«'r  these  circumstances, 
he  resolved  to  return  immediately  t(»  Europe;  and  he  accordingly 
quitted  Monterey  on  the  *2(l  of  December,  1794.  On  his  way 
southward,  he  examined  the  Californian  coast,  though  not  minutely, 
as  far  as  Cape  San  liUcas,  from  whicii  he  took  his  departure  for 
Valparaiso,  in  Chili.  After  a  short  stay  at  that  place,  he  passed 
around  Cape  Horn,  and  arrived  in  England  in  November,  1795  ; 


•I' 


I 


•  \  ' 


■  f 
,  I' 


mi'i 


2.j6 


END    OF    THE    NOOTKA    CONTROVERSY 


[1796. 


I 


■  5 


having?  completed,  in  the  most  cflectiml  manner,  the  most  extensive 
nautical  survey  which  had  ever  been  made  in  one  expedition.* 

No  account  has  yet  transpired  of  the  negotiation  betwocMi  the 
courts  of  London  and  Madrid,  respecting  the  extent  of  territory,  and 
the  Imihlings  on  the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  which  were  to  be 
restored  to  British  subjects,  after  the  reference  of  that  cjuestion  to 
them  by  their  conunissioners.  Lieutenant  Broughton,  who  had 
been  despatched  to  England  by  Vancouver  in  171)3,  was  thence 
sent  by  the  government  on  this  business  to  Madrid ;  and,  on  his 
return  to  London,  he  was  ordered  to  proceoi  to  the  North  Pacific, 
in  the  sloop  Providence,  for  the  purpose  of  surveying  the  coasts  of 
Asia,  near  Japan,  being  commissioned,  at  the  same  time,  to  receive 
possession  of  the  territories  at  Nootka,  in  case  the  restitution  should 
not  have  been  previously  made.  lie  accordingly  sailed  from  Enij;- 
land  for  Nootka,  where,  in  April,  1796,  he  was  informed,  by  letters 
left  in  charge  of  Maquinna,t  "  that  the  Spaniar<ls  had  delivered  up 
the  port  of  Nootka,  ttc,  to  Lieutenant  Pierce,  of  the  marines, 
agreeably  to  the  mode  of  restitution  settled  between  the  two  courts," 

*  Vancouver's  journal  and  cliarts  wero  puhlislird  at  London  in  ITf"*,  bcfori'  whirh 
period  the  naviirator  had  sunk  into  the  grave.  Mis  journal  is  a  simple  recoril  of  nbsor- 
vations  and  occurrences,  written  in  a  plain  niid  inlelliijible,  ti»()U!;r|i  homely  and  un- 
pretending style  ;  and  it  is  entirely  tree  from  tiiose  displays  of  imagination,  in  tho 
shape  of  long  political  and  philosophical  distpiisitions,  with  which  such  works  ;iro 
often  overloaded.  The  ciiarts  and  vi<'\vs  of  tlie  land  are  ndmiralily  executed,  and  ilicir 
accuracy  has  lieen  since  generally  confirmed.  We  are.  in  fact,  indei)te(l  to  \  ancnuvcr 
nnd  his  oHicers  for  our  knowledge  of  the  outline  of  the  whole  western  coasts  of  Amer- 
ica, from  the  peninsula  of  California  to  the  peninsula  of  Aliaska  ;  of  which  all  tiif 
principal  points  have  been  ascertained  with  the  utmost  precision,  so  that  siiccee(liii!r 
navigators  have  only  iiad  to  make  corrections  in  the  intermediate  s))aces.  VancoiiviT 
himself  was  certainly  a  man  of  great  courage,  j)erseverance,  and  professional  skill, 
possessing  also  good  temper  and  irood  feelings,  except  with  regard  to  citizens  of  iln' 
United  States,  against  whom  and  tiieir  country  he  cherished  the  most  bitter  aniiiiositv. 
While  admitting,  with  trankness,  tlie  merits  of  subjects  of  other  nations,  as  discoverers 
or  as  men,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  adopt  unworthy  means  to  (h^prive  the  Americans  ot" 
the  rejiutation  which  thev  had  justly  earui'd  i)y  their  labors  in  exi)loring,  and  to  blacken 
their  characters  as  individuals:  tor  this  object,  he  niaile  use  of  niisrepresentations, 
misstatements,  insinuations,  and  concealments,  whenever  occasions  presented  them- 
selves; and  that  which  he  would  have  comm(>nded  in  a  Hriton,  or  excused  in  a  Kns- 
siun  or  a  S|>auiard,  becami^  criminMl  in  his  eyes  when  connnitled  by  a  citizen  of  tiio 
hated  n>|nil)lic.  lie,  nevertheless,  ap|)ears  to  have  given  satisfaction  to  all  with 
whom  he  came  personally  into  communication.  Ingraham  speaks  of  him  with  tlie 
utmost  res|)ect,  and  acknowledges  his  obligations  fiir  the  und'orm  kindness  of  the 
British  naviirator.  In  the  Sandwich  Islands  his  memory  is  universally  cherisluMl. 
He  was  long  expected  to  n^turn  and  establish  himself  there,  as  a  commissioner  from 
his  sovereign  ;  and  he  probably  would  have  been  admitted  among  the  number  of 
their  gods,  if  the  ship  which  lie  is  said  to  have  |)romised  to  Tumahamalia  had  ever 
Deen  sent. 

t  Journal  of  a  Voyage  in  the  Pacific,  by  Captain  Robert  Broughton,  p.  50. 


1796.] 


END  OF  THR  NOOTKA  CONTROVERSY. 


257 


st  extensive 
lition.* 
jetvvein  the 
^rritory,  and 
I  were  to  be 
(luestion  to 
I,   who  had 
was  thence 
and,  on  his 
orth  Pacific, 
ihc  coasts  of 
le,  to  receive 
lution  should 
;(1  from  Enji- 
ed,  by  letters 
delivered  up 
the  marines, 
3  two  courts," 

rr»j*,  before  whirli 
e  record  ot"  nbsor- 
I  homely  and  un- 
liiff illation,  in  the 
s\i('h   works  ;iro 
see\ite(l,  and  lln'ir 
iteil  to  \  aiicouvtr 
n  coasts  of  Aniir- 
of  whicl)  all  llii- 
r>  that  succecdiiij 
ices.     VnneoiiviT 
professiiiiial  skill, 
to  citizens  of  ih^' 
t  hitter  aiiiniosity. 
ins,  asdiscovcnTs 
the  Anieri('!iiis(it' 
(T,  and  to  blacken 
isrepresentatiDiis, 
presented  tlu'iii- 
xeiised  in  n  Hus- 
)v  a  citizen  of  tlio 
ction  to  all  with 
of  liini  with  tho 
II  kindness  o\'  the 
■rsally  cherishcil. 
(imniissioner  from 
ijT  the   number  of 
liamaha  had  ever 


n,  p 


.50. 


in  March,  1795,  after  which  the  place  had  been  entirely  evacuated 
by  both  parties.  This  is  the  account  given  by  Broughton  in  his 
journal,  which,  however,  alibrds  no  information  as  to  the  mode  of 
restitution  thus  settled.  On  the  other  hand,  Belsham,  an  historian 
who,  noiwithstanding  the  violence  of  his  prejudices,  cannot  be  sus- 
pected of  want  of  attachment  to  the  honor  or  interests  of  his  country, 
and  who  possessed  ample  means  of  ascertaining  the  fact,  writes,  in 
1805,*  '•  It  is  nevertheless  certain,  from  the  most  authentic  subse- 
quent information,  that  the  Spanish  flag  jlying  at  NootJca  was  never 
struck,  and  that  the  territory  has  been  virtually  relinquished  by 
Great  Britain."  It  indeed  seems  very  improbable  that  the  British 
govornnient,  which  had  just  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance  with 
Spain,  and  had  induced  that  power  to  declare  war  against  France, 
when  Broughton  was  sent  to  the  Pacific,  should  at  the  same  time 
have  re<juir(>d  the  surrender  of  this  territory,  or  that  Spain  should 
have  assented  to  it  while  she  possessed  the  right,  by  the  contention, 
to  indemnify  the  British  claimants  for  all  such  losses  of  land  or  build- 
ings, as  they  could  prove  to  have  been  sustained  by  them,  since  the 
month  of  April,  1789.  It  is  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
Spaniards  merely  abandoned  the  |)lace,  the  occupation  of  which  was 
useless  an<l  very  ex|)ensive.f  Since  that  period,  no  civilized  nation 
has  ever  attempted  to  form  an  establishment  at  Nootka  Sound,  nor 
have  the  Spaniards  occtipied  any  spot  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  America 
north  of  JNut  San  Francisco. 

in  Jtdy,  179(3,  Spain,  having  been  unsuccessful  in  her  hostile 
operations  against  the  French  republic,  was  obliged  to  make  peace 
with  that  power ;  and,  in  October  following,  she  was  likewise  obliged 

*  History  of  Great  Britain,  vol.  viii.  p.  337. 

t  In  the  library  of  Congress,  at  VVa.sliinijrton,  is  an  interestinfif  Spanisli  manuscript 
presented  by  (leneral  Tornel,  durinif  liis  residence  in  the  Ifnited  States  as  minister 
from  IVhwico,  entitled  "  Instruccion  reservada  del  lleyno  de  Nueva  I'^spana  que  el 
E.\iiu).  Senor  N'irrey  Conde  de  Ilevilla^iir«'do  dio  a  su  Sucesor  el  Kxmo.  Scnor  Mar- 
ques de  IJraneiforU'  en  el  Ano  de  17it4  "  —  Hirnt  Instnirtioiiti  rrsprctiiiir  the  Kinirdom  of 
.\cw  Sjidin,  L'ircn,  in  17!)4,  liij  the  Vicrroy,  Count  ih  lireiUairiirido,  to  his  Successor,  the 
Marquis  dr  Hrnncifortr.  Tiiis  work,  which  abounds  in  curious  details  relative  to  the 
administration  of  atVairs  in  Mexico,  lias  been  carefully  e.vnmined  with  reference  to  the 
objects  of  the  present  memoir.  Nothing,  however,  has  been  collected  from  it,  except 
m  confirniatiou  of  statements  elsewhere  made.  The  paraijrraphs  from  703  to  713,  in- 
clusive, are  devoted  to  tiie  Marine  Di/mrtmi  nt  of  Sun  lilas,  to  wliich,  as  already  men- 
tioned, the  care  of  the  Spanish  colonies  in  California  was  connnitted.  The  count 
recommends  to  his  successor  the  maintenance  of  those  colonies,  as  the  best  means  of 
preserving  Mexico  from  foreign  influences ;  ailvising  him,  at  the  same  time,  liowever, 
not  to  extend  the  estahlishments  beyond  the  Strait  of  Fuca.  Witii  regard  to  Nootka, 
it  is  merely  stated,  m  paragraph  713,  that  orders  had  been  sent  to  the  commandant  to 
abandon  tlie  place,  .agreeably  to  a  royal  dictamen. 

33 


K'*' 


I 
I 


ill"- 


I 


h' 


'^1' 


:',s' 


!^M: 


258 


WAK   BETWEEN    SPAIN    AND    ENOLAND. 


fl796. 


to  declare  war  against  her  former  ally,  Great  Britain.  In  the  munj. 
festo  published  by  the  court  of  Madrid,  on  the  latter  occasion,  "  the 
frequent  arrival  of  English  vessels  on  the  coasts  of  Peru  and  Chili, 
to  carry  on  contraband  trade,  and  to  reconnoitre  those  coasts, 
under  the  pretext  of  the  whale  fishery,  which  privilege  they  claimed 
under  the  Nootka  convention,"  is  alleged  among  the  causes  of  the 
rupture.  The  British  government,  in  its  answer,  denied  '<  tlint  the 
whale  fishery  by  the  English,  in  these  parts,  was,  as  asserted,  c)«  irned 
in  the  convention  of  Nootka,  as  then  for  the  first  time  established," 
insisting  that  the  right  was,  in  that  convention,  "  solemnly  recognized 
by  the  court  of  Madrid,  as  hav  ing  always  belonged  to  Great  Britain, 
and  the  full  and  undisturbed  exercise  of  which  was  guarantied  to 
his  majesty's  subjects,  in  terms  so  express,  and  in  a  transaction  so 
recent,  that  ignorance  of  it  cannot  be  pretended."  That  Great 
Britain  did  always  possess  the  right  to  fish  in  the  Pacific  and  South- 
ern Oceans,  agreeably  to  the  principles  of  common  justice,  is  un- 
questionable ;  but  that  this  right  was  acknowledged  by  Spain  in 
the  Nootka  convention,  or  in  any  other  treaty  between  those  powers 
previous  to  1796,  is  by  no  means  exact.  In  the  Nootka  conven- 
tion, all  assertions  and  recognitions  of  rights  are,  on  the  contrary, 
avoided ;  the  whole  instrument  being,  in  fact,  a  series  of  conces- 
sions, limitations,  and  restrictions,  resting  entirely  on  the  consent  of 
both  parties,  and  expiring  on  the  withdrawal  of  its  consent  by  either. 
On  this  declaration  of  war  by  Spain  against  Britain,  the  Nootka 
convention,  with  all  its  stipulations,  of  whatsoever  nature  they  might 
have  been,  expired,  agreeably  to  the  rule  universally  observed  and 
enforced  among  civilized  nations,  that  all  treaties  are  ended  b\j  war 
between  the  partien.  From  that  moment,  Spain  might,  as  before 
the  convention,  claim  the  exclusive  navigation  of  the  Pacific  and 
Southern  Oceans,  and  the  sovereignty  of  all  their  American  coasts ; 
and  Great  Britain  might  again  assert  the  right  of  her  subjects  to  sail 
and  fish  in  every  open  sea,  and  to  settle  on  every  unoccupied  coast.* 

From  the  preceding  view  of  the  circumstances  connected  with 
the  convention  of  October,  1790,  and  the  occupation  of  Nootka 
Sound  by  the  Spaniards,  we  are  authorized  to  conclude,  — 

That  no  part  of  "  the  north-west  coasts  of  the  continent  of  North 
America,  or  of  the  adjacent  islands,"  had  ever  been  owned  or  occu- 
pied by  British  subjects,  anterior  to  the  establishment  of  the  Spanish 
post  at  Nootka  Sound,  in  May,  1789:   Consequently, — 

*  Further  considerationa  on  this  Bubject  will  be  found  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
this  History. 


1796.] 


WAR   BETWEEN    SPAIN    AND    ENGLAND. 


259 


That  no  "  buildings  or  tracts  of  land,"  on  those  coasts  or  islands, 
were  "  to  bo  restored  to  British  subjects,"  agreeably  to  the  first  and 
second  articles  of  the  convention  of  October,  1790:  And,  as  a 
further  consequence, — 

'  That  the  abandonment  of  Nootka  Sound  by  tlie  Spaniards  in 
1795,  under  whatsoever  circumstances  it  may  have  been  effected, 
gave  to  Great  Britain  no  other  rights  at  that  place,  than  those  which 
she  enjoyed  in  common  with  Spain,  in  every  other  part  of  the  coasts 
nnd  islands  north  of  Port  San  Francisco,  by  virtue  of  the  third  and 
dfth  articles  of  the  same  convention. 


"*' 


'•'■'ii 
i 


|i' 


I' 


r  i '; 
■n 


V'l 


^';.> 


■^':::i 


.  I. ' 

"';.,■  si- 


ifleenth  chapter  of 


i:\W 


m 


?■ 


.9u  ^a. 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0     ^1^  1^ 

■U  Uii    |Z2 


•"   —    ""2.0 


1.1     f."^! 


fliolDgraphic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WIST  MAIN  STMIT 

WUSTIR.N.Y.  USM 

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260 


CHAPTER  XII. 


1788  TO  1810. 


Establishment  of  the  North- West  Fur  Trading  Company  of  Montreal,  in  1783  — 
Expeditions  of  Mackenzie  to  the  Arctic  Sea  and  to  the  Pacific  Coast  —  The  Trade 
between  the  North  Pacific  Coasts  of  America  and  Canton  conducted  almost  ex- 
clusively by  Vessels  of  the  United  States  from  1796  to  1814  —  Establishment  of 
the  Russian  American  Company  —  Its  Settlements  and  Factories  on  the  American 
Coasts  —  Expedition  of  Krusenstern  through  the  North  Pacific  —  Proposition  of 
the  Russian  Government  to  that  of  the  United  States,  with  Regard  to  the  Trade 
of  the  North  Pacific. 


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Whilst  the  navigators  of  various  nations  were  thus  completing 
the  survey  of  the  shores  of  North- West  America,  important  infor- 
mation respecting  the  interior  regions  of  that  section  of  the  conti- 
nent was  obtained  by  the  agents  of  an  association  formed  at 
Montreal,  in  1734,  for  the  prosecution  of  the  fur  trade  in  the  Indian 
territories,  which  were  supposed  to  be  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Before  Canada  came  into  the  possession  of  Great  Britain,  a  large, 
if  not  the  greater,  portion  of  the  furs  sent  from  America  by  the 
subjects  of  that  power  was  shipped  from  New  York.  After  that 
period,  Montreal  became  the  principal  seat  of  the  trade ;  and  dis- 
putes immediately  arose  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which 
claimed  the  whole  division  of  America  drained  by  streams  falling 
into  that  sea,  and  the  Canadians,  who  pursued  their  trade  in  the 
southern  and  western  parts  of  that  territory.  These  disputes,  with 
which  the  British  government  did  not,  from  policy,  choose  to  inter- 
fere, were  injurious  to  the  interests  of  both  parties ;  and,  the  Indian 
countries  north  of  Lake  Superior  having  been,  about  the  same 
time,  almost  depopulated  by  the  smallpox,  the  trade  was  confined, 
for  some  years,  to  the  environs  of  Hudson's  Bay,  the  lower  lakes, 
and  the  St.  Lawrence,  where  the  animals  were  less  numerous,  and 
their  furs  inferior  in  quality. 

At  length,  about  the  year  1775,  some  enterprising  merchants  of 
Montreal  penetrated  into  the  countries,  far  north-west  of  Lake 
Superior,  drained  by  the  Saskatchawine  and  Athabasca  Rivers, 


1784.] 


NORTH-WEST    COMPANY    FORMED. 


261 


which  had  long  before  been  frequented  by  the  French ;  and  their 
success  in  trade  was  such  as  to  induce  others  to  make  similar  ex- 
peditions. The  Canadians  were,  however,  exposed,  on  their  way, 
to  great  difficulties  and  annoyances  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, with  which  they  were  unable  separately  to  contend;  and 
they,  in  consequence,  in  the  year  1784,  united  their  interests,  and 
assumed  for  their  association  the  title  of  the  North' West  Company 
of  Montreal.  Other  associations  were  afterwards  formed,  under 
different  names ;  but  they  were  soon  either  dissolved  or  united  with 
the  North- West  Company. 

The  organization  of  this  new  company  was  such,  as  to  insure  the 
utmost  regularity  and  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  concern, 
among  all  who  were  engaged  in  its  service.  The  number  of  the 
shares  was  at  first  sixteen ;  it  was  afterwards  increased  to  twenty, 
and  then  to  forty :  a  certain  proportion  of  them  was  held  by  the 
agents,  residing  in  Montreal,  who  furnished  the  capital ;  the  remain- 
der being  distributed  among  the  proprietors,  or  partners,  who  super- 
intended the  business  in  the  forts  or  posts  in  the  interior,  and  the 
clerks,  who  traded  directly  with  the  Indians.  The  clerks  were 
young  men,  for  the  most  part  natives  of  Scotland,  who  entered  the 
service  of  the  company  for  five  or  seven  years ;  and,  at  the  end  of 
that  time,  or  even  earlier,  if  they  conducted  themselves  well,  they 
were  admitted  as  proprietors.  The  inferior  servants  of  the  com- 
pany were  guides,  interpreters,  and  voyageurs,  the  latter  being 
employed  as  porters  on  land,  and  as  boatmen  on  the  water,  all  of 
whom  were  bound  to  the  interests  of  the  body  by  hopes  of  advance- 
ment in  station  or  in  pay,  and  of  pensions  in  their  old  age. 

The  agents  imported  from  England  the  goods  required  for  the 
trade,  had  them  packed  into  bundles  of  about  ninety  pounds 
weight  each,  and  despatched  them  to  the  different  posts ;  and  they 
received  the  furs  in  packs  of  the  same  size,  and  conducted  the 
shipment  and  sale  of  them.  The  furs,  as  also  the  articles  for  the 
trade  and  use  of  the  persons  employed,  were  transported  through 
the  continent  principally  in  canoes,  for  which  the  Ottowa  River, 
Lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  and  the  other  innumerable  lakes,  and 
the  streams  connecting  them  farther  north-west,  offered  great  fa- 
cilities ;  the  portage  between  the  navigable  waters  on  the  lines  of 
the  route  being  effected  by  the  voyageurs,  who  carried  the  bundles, 
and  sometimes,  also,  the  canoes,  across  the  intervening  tracts  of 
land.  In  this  manner  the  goods  and  furs  passed  one,  two,  and  even 
three,  thousand  miles  between  the  agent  at  Montreal  and  the  pro- 


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362 


EXPEDITION    TO   THE    ROCKY    MOUNTAINS. 


[1788. 


prietor  at  the  trading-post ;  and  nearly  four  years  elapsed  between 
the  period  of  ordering  the  goods  in  Canada,  and  that  at  which  the 
furs  could  be  sold  in  London. 

Before  the  formation  of  the  North- West  Company,  the  farther- 
most trading  establishment  of  British  subjects  was  one  on  the 
Athabasca  or  Elk  River,  about  twelve  hundred  miles  north-west  of 
Lake  Superior,  which  had  been  founded  by  Messrs.  Frobisher  and 
Pond,  in  1778  ;  and  this  continued  to  be  the  principal  post  in  that 
part  of  the  continent  for  ten  years,  when  it  was  abandoned,  and 
another,  called  Fort  Chipewyan,  was  established  on  the  south-west 
side  of  the  Athabasca  Lake,  or  Lake  of  the  Hills,  into  which 
the  Elk  River  discharges  its  waters.  In  the  mean  time,  several 
large  parties  had  been  sent,  for  the  purposes  of  trade  and  discovery, 
from  Canada  towards  the  west,  one  of  which,  consisting  of  about 
a  hundred  men,  penetrated  to  the  foot  of  the  great  dividing  chain 
then  called  the  Shining  Mountains,  or  Mountains  of  Bright  Stones, 
and  now  commonly  known  as  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  *  but  they  were 


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*  Of  this  expedition  an  account  appeared  in  a  letter  written  at  Pittsburg,  in  1791, 
by  an  officer  of  General  St.  Clair's  army,  and  published  in  the  Collections  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society  for  1794.    The  writer,  whose  name  is  not  given, 

received  his  information  from  a  Mr.  M ,  who  had,  as  he  said,  commanded  tlie 

party  in  question.  The  following  extracts  will  show  the  principal  circumstances 
connected  with  the  expedition,  and  among  them  will  be  found  nothing  which  siiould 
induce  us  to  doubt  the  truth  of  the  account :  — 

"  Mr.  M.  stated  that  he  had,  about  five  years  ago,  departed  from  Montreal,  with 
a  company  of  about  one  hundred  men,  fc '  the  purpose  of  making  a  tour  through  the 
Indian  countries,  to  collect  furs,  and  to  make  remarks,  &c.  He  pursued  his  route 
from  Montreal,  and  entered  the  Indian  country,  and  coasted  about  three  hundred 
leagues  along  the  banks  of  Lake  Superior,  whence  he  made  his  way  to  the  Lake  of 
the  Woods,  of  which  he  took  an  accurate  survey,  and  found  it  to  be  thirty-six  leagues 
in  length,  and  thence  to  Lake  Ounipique,  [Winnipeg,]  of  which  he  also  gives  a 
description.  The  tribes  of  Indians  through  which  he  passed  were  called  the  Mus- 
kego,  Shipewyan,  Cithnistinee,  Great-belly,  Beaver,  Blood,  Black-feet,  Snalie, 
Ossnobian,  Shiveyton,  Mandon,  Paunee,  and  several  others,  &c.  In  pursuing  his 
route,  he  found  no  difiiculty  in  obtaining  a  guide  to  accompany  Iiim  from  one  nation 
to  another,  until  he  reached  the  foot  of  the  Shining  Mountains,  or  Mountains  of  Bright 
Stones,  where,  in  attempting  to  pass,  he  was  frustrated  by  the  hostile  appearance  of 
the  Indians  who  inhabit  that  part  of  the  country ;  the  consequence  of  which  was, 
that  he  was  disappointed  in  his  intention,  and  obliged  to  turn  his  back  upon  them. 
Having  collected  a  number  of  Indians,  he  went  forward  again,  with  an  intention  to 
force  his  way  over  these  mountains,  if  necessary  and  practicable,  and  to  reach  Cooii's 
River,  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  supposed  by  him  to  be  about  three 
hundred  leagues  from  the  mountains ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  mountains  again  met 
him  with  their  bows  and  arrows,  and  so  superior  were  they  in  numbers  to  his  little 
forces,  that  he  was  obliged  to  flee  before  them.  Cold  weather  coming  on,  he  built 
hutfl  for  himself  and  party  in  the  Ossnobian  [Assinaboin]  country,  and  near  to  the 
source  of  a  large  river  called  the  Ossnobian  River,  where  they  tanied  during  the 
cold  season,  and  until  some  time  in  the  warm  months." 


»  ,.(•' 


1789.] 


MACKENZIE    REACHES    THE    ARCTIC    SEA. 


263 


unable  to  proceed  farther,  in  consequence  of  the  hostile  dispositions 
of  the  natives. 

Between  1788  and  1794,  two  other  expeditions  were  made  from 
Fort  Chipewyan  by  Mr.  Alexander  Mackenzie,  the  superintending 
proprietor  at  that  place,  of  which  a  particular  account  should  be 
here  given,  as  the  geographical  information  obtained  in  them  was 
highly  interesting,  and  led  to  important  commercial  and  political 
results.* 

The  Athabasca  Lake  is  a  basin  about  two  hundred  miles  in 
length  from  east  to  west,  and  about  thirteen  in  average  breadth,  sit- 
uated under  the  59th  parallel  of  latitude,  midway  between  the 
Pacific  Ocean  and  Hudson's  Bay.  It  is  supplied  by  several  streams, 
of  which  the  principal  are  the  Athabasca  or  Elk  River,  flowing  from 
the  south,  and  the  Unjigah  or  Peace  River,  from  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, on  the  west ;  and  its  waters  are  discharged  through  the  Slave 
River,  running  about  two  hundred  miles  north,  into  the  Great  Slave 
Lake,  discovered  by  Hearne  in  1771.  All  these  rivers  join  the 
Athabasca  Lake  at  its  south-west  end,  near  which  Fort  Chipewyan 
was  then  situated. 

Mackenzie's  first  expedition  was  made  in  1789,  and  its  principal 
object  was  to  ascertain  the  course  of  the  waters  from  the  Great  Slave 
Lake  to  the  sea,  which  Hearne  had  left  undetermined.  For  this 
purpose,  he  left  Fort  Chipewyan,  with  his  party,  in  bark  canoes,  on 
the  3d  of  June,  1789,  and,  passing  down  the  Slave  River  into  the 
Great  Slave  Lake,  he  discovered  a  large  stream  flowing  out  of  the 
latter  basin,  at  its  north-west  extremity,  to  which  he  gave  the  name 
of  Mackenzie  River ;  and  this  stream  he  descended  about  nine 
hundred  miles,  in  a  north-west  direction,  along  the  base  of  a  chain 
of  mountains,  to  its  termination  in  the  sea.  On  his  return,  he 
examined  the  country  east  of  his  great  river,  which  had  been 
traversed  by  Hearne,  and  arrived  at  Fort  Chipewyan  on  the  12th 
of  September,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  throe  months. 

The  mouth  of  the  Mackenzie  was  supposed  by  its  discoverer  to 
be  situated  near  the  69th  degree  of  latitude,  and  about  25  degrees 
of  longitude,  or  five  hundred  miles,  west  of  the  mouth  of  Hearne's 
Coppermine  River,  which  is  not  far  from  its  t.ae  position.!     Still 


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*  Voyages  from  Montreal,  on  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  through  the  Continent  of 
North  America,  to  the  Frozen  and  the  Pacific  Oce&ns,  in  1789  and  1793,  with  a  pre- 
liminary Account  of  the  Fur  Trade  of  that  Country ;  by  Sir  Alexander  Mackenzie. 
London,  1801. 

t  Its  principal  mouth  is  in  latitude  GD**,  longitude  ISO"  west  from  Greenwich. 


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264 


MACKENZIE  S    JOURNEY   TO   THE    PACIFIC. 


[1792. 


farther  west  must,  of  course,  be  situated  any  passage  or  sea  con- 
necting the  Pacific  with  the  part  of  the  ocean  into  which  both  those 
rivers  were  supposed  to  empty ;  and  the  existence  of  any  such 
passage  east  of  Bering's  Strait  became,  in  consequence,  much  less 
probable. 

In  his  second  expedition,  Mackenzie  quitted  Fort  Chipewyan  on 
the  10th  of  October,  1792,  and  ascended  the  Unjigah  or  Peace 
River,  from  the  Athabasca  Lake,  with  much  difficulty,  to  the  foot 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  he  spent  the  winter  in  camp.  In 
June  of  the  following  year,  he  resumed  his  voyage  up  the  same 
stream,  which  he  traced,  in  a  south-west  direction,  through  the 
mountains,  to  its  springs,  near  the  54th  degree  of  latitude,  distant 
more  than  nine  hundred  miles  from  its  mouth.  Within  half  a  mile 
of  one  of  these  springs,  he  embarked  on  another  stream,  called  by  the 
natives  Tacoutchee-Tessee,  down  which  he  floated  in  canoes  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  miles ;  then,  leaving  the  river,  he  proceeded 
westward  about  two  hundred  miles  over  land,  and,  on  the  23d  of 
July,  1793,  he  reached  the  Pacific  Ocean,  at  the  mouth  of  an  inlet. 
in  the  latitude  of  52  degrees  20  minutes,  which  had,  a  few  weeks 
previous,  been  surveyed  by  Vancouver,  and  been  named  the  Cascade 
CanaL  Having  thus  accomplished  a  passage  across  the  American 
continent  at  its  widest  part,  he  retraced  his  steps  to  Fort  Chipewyan, 
where  he  arrived  on  the  24th  of  August. 

By  this  expedition,  Mackenzie  ascertained  beyond  all  doubt  the 
fact  of  the  extension  of  the  American  continent,  on  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  undivided  by  any  water  passage,  as  far  north  as  the  latitude 
of  52  degrees  20  minutes ;  which  fact  was,  about  the  same  time, 
rendered  nearly,  though  not  absolutely,  certain  by  the  examinations 
of  Vancouver.  The  River  Tacoutchee-Tessee  was  supposed  to  be 
the  upper  part  of  the  Columbia,  until  1812,  when  it  was  traced  to 
its  mouth,  in  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  near  the  49th  degree  of  latitude; 
and  since  that  time  it  has  been  called  Fraser's  River. 

The  discoveries  of  Mackenzie,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  re- 
sults of  Vancouver's  surveys,  strengthened  the  conclusion,  at  which 
Cook  had  arrived,  that  the  American  continent  extended  uninter- 
ruptedly north-westward  to  Bering's  Strait;  and  Mackenzie  him- 
self conceived,  though  certainly  without  sufficient  grounds,  that  he 
had  clearly  determined  in  the  negative  the  long-agitated  question 
as  to  the  practicability  of  a  voyage  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
around  the  northern  shores  of  America.  For  the  advancement  of 
British  interests  in  the  North  Pacific,  he  recommended  that  the 


1792.] 


JOURNKYS    OV    I'IDLER    AND    THUUEAU. 


265 


Hudson's  Bay  and  the  North-West  Companies,  which  had  been 
opposed  to  each  other  ever  since  the  formation  of  the  latter,  should 
be  united ;  that  the  British  government  should  favor  the  establish- 
ment of  commercial  communications  across  North  America,  for 
which  the  rivers  and  lakes  in  the  portion  claimed  by  him  for  that 
power  afforded  unrivalled  facilities ;  and  that  the  East  India  Com- 
pany should  throw  open  to  their  fellow-subjects  the  direct  trade 
between  the  north-west  coasts  of  America  and  China,  which  was 
then,  he  says,  "  left  to  the  adventurers  of  the  United  States,  acting 
without  regularity  or  capital,  or  the  desire  of  conciliating  future 
confidence,  and  looking  only  to  the  interest  of  the  moment." 
These  recommendations  were  not  thrown  away,  but  were  nearly  all 
adopted  by  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed ;  and  the  result  has 
been,  the  extension  of  British  commerce  and  dominion  throughout 
the  whole  northern  section  of  America. 

Whilst  Mackenzie  was  engaged  in  his  journey  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  Mr.  Fidler,  a  clerk  in  the  service  of  the  North-West  Company, 
made  an  expedition  from  Fort  Buckingham,  a  trading-post  on  the 
Saskatchawine  River,  south-westward,  to  the  foot  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,*  along  which  he  seems  to  have  travelled,  through  the 
regions  drained  by  the  head-waters  of  the  Missouri.  About  the 
same  time,  several  trading  voyages  were  made  up  the  Missouri  by 
the  French  and  Spaniards  of  St.  Louis ;  particularly  by  the  mem- 
bers of  a  company  formed  at  that  place  by  a  Scotchman  named 
Todd,  under  the  special  protection  of  the  Spanish  government,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  monopolize  the  whole  trade  of  the  interior 
and  western  portions  of  the  continent.f 

The  trade  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  with  the  Indians 
in  the  central  portion  of  the  continent  was  much  restricted,  for 
many  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  independence  of  the 
republic,  in  consequence  of  the  possession  of  Louisiana  by  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  retention  by  the  British  of  several  important 
posts  south  of  the  great  lakes,  within  the  territory  acknowledged  as 


•  On  Arrowstnith's  "JMiip  of  all  the  new  Discoveries  in  Korth  America"  published 
at  London  in  1795,  several  streams  are  represented,  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Fidler, 
OS  flowing  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  both  sides  j  but  none  corresponding  with 
them  in  course  or  position  have  been  since  found. 

t  The  journal  of  one  of  these  voyages,  made  by  M.  Trudeau,  in  1794,  has  been 
preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Department  of  State  at  Washington ;  it  is,  however, 
devoted  chiefly  to  the  numbers,  manners,  customs,  religion,  &c.,  of  the  natives  on 
the  banks  of  the  Missouri,  particularly  of  the  Arickaras,  inhabiting  the  country 
under  the  46th  parallel  of  latitude. 

34 


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266 


AMERICAN    COMMERCE    IN    THE    PACIFIC.       [179G — I8I4, 


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belonging  to  the  Union,  by  the  treaty  of  1783.  At  length,  by  the 
treaty  of  November  19,  1794,  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  it  was  agreed  that  these  posts  should  be  given  up 
to  the  Americans,  and  that  the  people  of  both  nations,  and  the 
Indians  "  dwelling  on  either  side  of  the  boundary  line,  should  have 
liberty  freely  to  pass  and  repass,  by  land  or  inland  navigation,  into 
the  respective  territories  of  the  two  parties,  on  the  continent  of 
America,  (the  country  within  the  limits  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  onlv 
excepted,)  and  to  navigate  all  the  lakes,  rivers,  and  waters  thereof, 
and  freely  to  carry  on  trade  with  each  other."  The  surrender  of 
these  posts,  especially  of  Detroit  and  Michilimackinac,  was  vcrv 
inconvenient  to  the  North-West  Company,  whilst  the  trade  of  the 
Americans  with  the  central  regions  was  thereby  increased ;  and 
large  quantities  of  furs  were  annually  transported  to  the  Atlantic 
cities,  principally  to  New  York,  from  which  place  they  were  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  United  States,  or  shipped  for  London  or 
Canton. 

On  the  North  Pacific,  the  direct  trade  between  the  American 
coasts  and  China  remained,  from  1796  to  1814,  almost  entirely,  as 
Mackenzie  said,  in  the  hands  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States; 
the  British  merchants  were  restrained  from  engaging  in  it  by  the 
opposition  of  their  East  India  Company ;  the  Russians  were  not 
admitted  into  Chinese  ports ;  and  few  ships  of  any  other  nation 
were  seen  in  that  part  of  the  ocean.  That  these  American 
"adventurers  acted  without  regularity  or  capital,  or  the  desire  of 
conciliating  future  confidence,  and  looking  only  to  the  interest  of  tk 
moment,"  was  also,  to  a  certain  extent,  true ;  though  the  facts  can 
scarcely  be  considered  discreditable  to  them,  as  Mackenzie  insinu- 
ated, even  supposing  their  operations  to  have  been  conducted  in 
the  manner  represented  by  a  British  writer,  whose  hostility  to  th 
United  States  and  their  citizens  was  even  more  violent  than  that  of 
Vancouver. 

"These  adventurers,"  says  the  writer  above  mentioned,*  "set 
out  on  the  voyage  with  a  few  trinkets  of  very  little  value.  In  the 
Southern  Pacific,  they  pick  up  some  seal-skins,  and  perhaps  a  few 
butts  of  oil ;  at  the  Gallipagos,  they  lay  in  turtle,  of  which  they 


!•*! 


*  Review  of  "A  Voyage  around  the  World,  from  1806  to  1812,  by  Archibald 
Campbell,"  in  the  London  Quarterly  Review  for  October,  1816,  written  in  a  spirit  of 
the  most  deadly  hatred  towards  the  United  States,  and  filled  with  assertions  most 
impudently  false. 


MM.  f^ 


'    .t 


.     [179G— 1814. 


]795 — 1814.]       AMERICAN   COMMERCE    IN  THE    PACIFIC. 


267 


preserve  the  shells ;  at  Valparaiso,  they  raise  a  few  dollars  in  ex- 
change for  European  articles ;  at  Nootka,  and  other  parts  of  the 
north-west  coasts,  they  traffic  with  the  natives  for  furs,  which,  when 
winter  commences,  they  carry  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  to  dry  and 
preserve  from  vermin ;  here  they  leave  their  own  people  to  take 
care  of  them,  and,  in  the  spring,  embark,  in  lieu,  the  natives 
of  the  islands,  to  assist  in  navigating  to  the  north-west  coast,  in 
search  of  more  skins.  The  remainder  of  the  cargo  is  then  made 
up  of  sandal,  which  grows  abundantly  in  the  woods  of  Atooi  and 
Owyhee,  of  tortoise  shells,  sharks'  iins,  and  pearls  of  an  inferior 
kind,  [meaning,  probably,  mother-of-pearl  shells,]  all  of  which  are 
acceptable  in  the  China  market ;  and  with  these  and  their  dollars 
they  purchase  cargoes  of  tea,  silks,  and  nankins,  and  thus  complete 
their  voyage  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  years." 

This  account  appears  to  be,  in  most  respects,  correct,  with  regard 
to  many  of  the  American  vessels  engaged  in  the  Pacific  trade  at  the 
period  to  which  it  relates;  and  it  serves  only  to  prove  the  industry, 
energy,  courage,  and  skill,  of  those  who  embarked  in  such  difficult 
and  perilous  enterprises,  and  conducted  them  so  successfully.  It 
would,  however,  be  easy  to  show,  from  custom-house  returns  and 
other  authentic  evidence,  that  the  greater  number  of  the  vessels  sent 
from  the  United  States  to  the  north-west  coasts  were  fine  ships 
or  brigs,  laden  with  valuable  cargoes  of  West  India  productions, 
British  manufactured  articles,  and  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish 
wines  and  spirits  ;  and  that  the  owners  were  men  of  large  capital 
and  high  reputation  in  the  commercial  world,  some  of  whom  were 
able  to  compete  with  the  British  companies,  and  even  occasionally 
to  control  their  movements. 

The  American  traders  in  the  Pacific  have  also  been  accused,  by 
British  writers,  of  practising  every  species  of  fraud  and  violence  in 
their  dealings  with  the  natives  of  the  coasts  of  that  sea :  yet  the 
acts  cited  in  support  of  these  general  accusations  arc  only  such  as 
have  been,  and  ever  will  be,  committed  by  people  of  civilized 
nations,  —  and  by  none  more  frequently  than  the  British, — when 
unrestrained  by  laws,  in  their  intercourse  with  ignorant,  brutal,  and 
treacherous  savages,  always  ready  to  rob  or  murder  upon  the 
slightest  prospect  of  gain,  or  in  revenge  for  the  slightest  affront. 
Seldom  did  an  American  ship  complete  a  voyage  through  the 
Pacific  without  the  loss  of  some  of  her  men,  by  the  treachery  or 
the  ferocity  of  the  natives  of  the  coasts  which  she  visited ;  and 


ill 


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Mi' 


¥. 


t\ 


li' 


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i\ 


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I     ! 


368 


AMERICAN    COMMrKCE    IN   THR    PACiriC.      [1796 — IS]/]. 


!*i 


several  instances  have  occurred  of  the  st  :uro  of  such  vessels,  and 
the  massacre  of  their  whole  crews,  in  this  manner.'**' 

All  the  islands  in  the  Pacific,  and  every  part  of  the  north>wc8t 
coasts  of  America,  were  visited  by  the  vessels  of  the  United  Staffs 
in  the  course  of  these  voyages.  Their  principal  places  of  resort 
were  the  Sandwich  Islands,  where  they  obtained  fresh  provisions, 
and  occasionally  seamen  from  among  the  natives ;  and  the  month 
of  the  Columbia,  Nootka  Sound,  and  Queen  Charlotte's  Island,  In 
which  they  traded  with  the  Indians  for  furs.  They  occasionally 
touched  at  the  ports  of  California,  where  they  were,  however,  viewprj 
with  great  distrust  by  the  Spanish  authorities ;  and  they  generally 
made  the  tour  of  the  Russian  settlements,  which  derived  from  the 
Americans,  in  this  way,  the  greater  part  of  their  supplies  of  European 
manufactures,  ammunition,  sugar,  wines,  and  spirits,  in  exchange  for 
peltries.  The  furs  were,  as  before,  sold  in  Canton,  at  prices  not 
high,  though  sufficient  to  encourage  a  moderate  importation ;  but 
they  seldom  formed  the  whole  cargo  of  the  vessels  arriving  there, 
the  remainder  being  composed  of  sandal-wood,  and  pearl  and  tor- 
toise shells. 

The  Sandwich  Islands  fell  in  succession  under  the  authority  of 
Tamahamaha,  who  displayed  admirable  sagacity  in  his  mode  of 
conducting  the  government,  amid  all  the  dangers  and  difficulties 
arising  from  internal  opposition  and  the  constant  presence  of  stran- 
gers of  various  nations.  Like  the  present  pacha  of  Egypt,  he  was 
not  only  the  political  chief,  but  also  the  chief  merchant  of  his 
territories :  in  his  minor  commercial  operations  he  was  generally 


\m  K 


*  In  1805,  the  ship  Atahualpa,  of  Rhode  Island,  was  attacked  by  tne  savagps  in 
Millbank  Sound,  and  her  captain,  mate,  and  six  seamen,  were  killed ;  after  which 
the  other  seamen  succeeded  in  repelling  the  assailants  and  saving  the  vessel.  In 
March,  1803,  the  ship  Boston,  of  Boston,  while  lying  at  Nootka  Sound,  was  attacked 
by  Maquinna  and  his  followers,  who  obtained  possession  of  her,  and  put  to  death  all 
on  board,  with  the  exception  of  two  men,  who,  after  remaining  in  slavery  four 
years,  effected  their  escape.  In  the  same  manner,  the  ship  Tonquin  was,  in  June, 
1811,  seized  by  the  natives,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  and  her  whole  crew 
murdered  in  a  moment,  as  will  be  hereafter  more  particularly  related ;  and  other 
instances  of  a  similar  nature  might  be  cited. 

The  account  of  the  capture  of  the  Boston,  by  John  R.  Jcwitt,  the  armorer  of  tiie 
ship,  contains  many  curious  details  respecting  the  country  around  Nootka  Sound, 
and  its  inhabitants,  as  observed  by  the  author  during  his  residence  there,  from 
lc03  to  1807.  This  little  work  has  been  frequently  reprinted,  and,  though  seldom 
found  in  libraries,  is  much  read  by  boys  and  seamen  in  the  United  States.  It  prescnU 
tlie  last  notices  which  have  been  found  on  record  of  Maquinna,  for  whom  Jewitt 
appears  to  have  entertained  a  great  admiration. 


>' 


1799.] 


RUSSIAN    AHUIIICAN    COMPANY    t:i>TAULlSllED. 


269 


successful ;  but  when  he  ventured  to  extend  the  scale  of  his  specu- 
lations, by  sending  vessels  Inden  with  sandal-wood  to  Canton,  he 
was,  as  ho  asserted,  always  cheated  by  those  to  whom  ho  committed 
the  management  of  the  business. 

In  California,  tho  Franciscan  missionaries  were  proceeding 
steadily  in  their  course,  and  the  number  of  their  convorts  was 
daily  increasing.  The  government  appears  to  have  been  liberal  in 
the  appropriation  of  funds  for  their  use  ;  but,  in  Spanish  America,  a 
long  time  always  elapsed  between  the  issue  of  an  order  for  supplies 
and  their  delivery,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  amount  originally 
ordered  was  generally  subtracted  before  it  reached  those  for  whose 
use  it  was  designed.  Soldiers,  whose  terms  had  expired,  were  also, 
in  some  cases,  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country ;  and  the  com- 
mandants permitted  a  little  contraband  trade  with  the  Americans, 
who  introduced  manufactured  articles  in  return  for  hidas. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Russians  of  Northern  Asia,  though  ex- 
cluded from  the  ports  of  China,  continued  their  commerce  with 
that  empire,  as  also  with  Europe,  as  formerly,  by  means  of  caravans 
passing  over  land ;  the  communications  being  conducted  principally 
by  a  company  established  at  Irkutsk,  the  great  mart  of  that  part  of 
the  world.  The  fur  trade  of  the  northernmost  coasts  of  the  Pacific 
was  monopolized  by  the  association,  formed  in  1781,  under  the 
direction  of  Schelikof  and  GoUikof,  which  was  protected  by  the 
empress  Catharine,  and  endowed  with  many  important  privileges. 
After  the  death  of  Catharine,  in  1794,  her  son  and  successor,  Paul, 
at  first  determined  to  put  an  end  to  the  association,  on  account  of 
the  alleged  cruelty  of  its  agents  towards  the  natives  of  the  American 
coasts :  he  was,  however,  induced  to  change  his  resolution ;  and,  a 
union  having  been  effected,  in  1798,  between  the  two  companies 
above  mentioned,  a  decree  was  issued,  on  the  8th  of  July  of  the 
following  year,  conceding  to  them,  under  the  title  of  the  Russian 
American  Company,  th  j  entire  use  and  control,  for  twenty  years,  of 
all  the  coasts  of  America  on  the  Pacific,  from  the  55th  degree  of 
north  latitude  to  Bering's  Strait,  together  with  the  adjacent  islands, 
including  the  Kurile  and  the  Aleutian  groups,  all  of  which  were 
claimed  as  having  been  discovered  by  Russians.  The  company 
was  also  authorized  to  explore,  and  bring  under  subjection  to  the 
imperial  crown,  any  other  territories  in  America  not  previously 
attached  to  the  dominions  of  some  civilized  nation ;  with  the 
express  provision  that  the  natives  of  all  these  countries  should 
be  treated  with  kindness,  and,  if  possible,  be   converted  to  the 


i 


V 


I     -I 


.1  !l 

1. 


■'I    i; 


8 


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m 


M 


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r!i  ■ 


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I 


IN 


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ri: ' 


.  "1*    > 


lli'Bfflfc '  ^  1    I 
i'l  i 


1- 

1  .' 

i' 

1 

•  1 

1  < 

■i'      ' 

270 


RUSSIAN    ESTABLISHMENTS    IN    AMERICA. 


11800. 


Greek  Catholic  ihitli.  These  privileges  wore  confirmed  and  in. 
creased  by  the  emperor  Al<;xander,  whoso  chief  minister  of  Htnte 
Count  RoinanzofT,  was  u  zealous  promoter  of  all  that  could  tend  to 
advance  the  |X)wor  and  interests  of  Russia  in  the  Pacific ;  and  the 
company  still  enjoys  the  favor  of  the  government,  its  charter  having 
been  renewed  by  successive  decrees  in  18'21  and  1839. 

Under  these  advantageous  circumstances,  combined  with  great 
skill  and  energy  in  the  management  of  its  atlairs,  and  aided  by  the 
constant  increase  of  facilities  for  communication  throughout  the 
empire,  the  Russian  American  Company  prospered ;  and  its  cstab. 
lishments  soon  extended  over  the  whole  of  the  Aleutian  Archipelago, 
and  thence  eastward  along  the  coast  and  islands  of  the  Amoricnn 
continent,  to  the  distance  of  more  than  a  thousand  miles.  In  180.3, 
the  most  eastern  of  these  establishments  was  on  Norfolk  Sound,  the 
Port  Guadelupe  of  the  Spaniards,  near  the  5(>th  degree  of  latitude, 
at  the  southern  entrance  of  the  passage  which  separates  Mount 
San  Jacinto  or  Edgecumb  from  the  largest  island  of  King  George 
III.'s  Archipelago.  This  settlement,  founded  in  1799,  was  de- 
stroyed, in  1803,  by  the  natives  of  the  country,  with  the  assistance, 
as  it  is  said,  of  some  seamen  who  had  deserted  from  an  American 
vessel;  but  another  was  formed  there  in  1805,  which  received  the 
name  of  New  Archangel  of  Sitca,  and  has  ever  since  been  the 
capital  of  Russian  America.  The  other  principal  establishments 
of  the  company  were  in  Unalashka  and  Kodiak,  and  on  the  shores 
of  Cook's  Inlet,  Prince  William's  Sound,  and  Admiralty  or  Bering's 
Bay.  In  1806,  preparations  were  made  for  occupying  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  River ;  but  the  plan  was  abandoned,  although  that 
spot,  and  the  whole  region  north  of  it,  was  then,  and  for  some  time 
after  continued  to  be,  represented,  on  the  maps  published  by  the 
company,  as  within  the  limits  of  its  rightful  possessions. 

The  population  of  each  of  these  establishments  consisted  princi- 
pally of  natives  of  America,  brought  by  the  Russians  from  other  and 
distant  parts  of  the  coast ;  between  whom  and  the  people  of  the 
surrounding  country  there  were  no  ties  of  kindred  or  language, 
and  there  could  be  little  community  of  feelings  or  interests.  The 
Aleutian  Islands  and  Kodiak  furnished  the  greater  number  of  these 
forced  emigrants,  and  also  a  large  proportion  of  the  crews  of  the 
vessels  employed  in  the  service  of  the  company.  The  Russians 
were  enlisted  in  Kamtchatka  and  Siberia,  for  a  term  of  years; 
they  entered  as  Promuschleniks,  or  adventurers,  and  were  employed, 
according  to  the  will  of  their  superiors,  as  soldiers,  sailors,  hunters, 


1806.] 


aOVGRNMKNT    01'    RUSSIAN    AMEHICA. 


971 


tishcrincn,  or  mechanics ;  in  the  best  of  which  sitimtions  their  lot 
wafl  more  wretched  than  timt  of  any  other  cIqhs  of  human  ltein^s 
within  the  pale  of  civilization,  or,  indeed,  of  any  other  class  of  per- 
sons whatsoever,  except  the  natives  of  the  American  coasts,  whom 
they  assisted  in  keeping  under  subjection.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, it  will  be  easily  believed  that  *<  none  but  vagabonds  and 
adventurers  ever  entered  the  company's  service  as  Promuschleniks ;  " 
that  "  it  was  their  invariable  destiny  to  pass  a  life  of  wretcher  ^ess 
in  America ; "  that  «  few  had  the  good  fortune  ever  to  touch  Rus- 
mn  ground  again,  and  very  few  to  attain  the  object  of  their  wishes 
hy  returning  to  Europe."  * 

The  government  of  Russian  America  was  arranged  on  a  plan 
even  more  despotic  than  that  of  the  other  parts  of  the  empire. 
The  general  8U|)erintendence  of  the  affairs  of  the  company  was  in 
the  hands  of  a  Directory,  residing  at  St.  Petersburg,  by  which  all 
the  regulations  and  appointments  were  made,  and  all  questions 
were  decided,  with  the  approval,  however,  of  the  imperial  depart- 
ment of  commerce.  All  the  territories  belonging  to  the  company, 
and  all  persons  and  things  in  them,  were  placed  under  the  control 
of  a  chief  agent  or  governor,  residing  at  Kodiak  or  Sitca,  from 
whose  orders  there  was  no  appeal,  except  to  the  Directory :  in  like 
manner,  each  district  or  group  of  settlements  was  ruled  by  an 
inferior  agent,  accountable  directly  to  the  governor-general ;  and 
each  factory  or  settlement  was  commanded  by  an  overseer,  chosen 
from  among  the  Promuschleniks,  who  possessed  the  right  to  pun- 
ish, to  a  certain  extent,  those  within  the  circle  or  his  authority. 

The  regulations  for  the  government  of  these  territories  were, 
like  those  of  the  Spanish  Council  of  the  Indies,  generally  just  and 
humane ;  but  the  enforcement  of  them,  as  in  Spanish  America,  was 
intrusted,  for  some  time,  to  men  with  whom  justice  and  humanity 
were  subordinate  to  expediency.  The  first  chief  agent  was  Alex- 
ander Baranof,  who  had  accompanied  Schelikof  in  his  expedition  in 
1783,  and  was  the  superintendent  of  the  settlements  at  Kodiak  and 
Cook's  Inlet  when  Vancouver  visited  those  places  in  1794.  He  was 
a  shrewd,  bold,  enterprising,  and  unfeeling  man,  of  iron  frame  and 
nerves,  and  the  coarsest  habits  and  manners.  By  his  inflexible 
severity  and  energy,  he  seems  to  have  maintained  absolute  and  in- 
dependent sway  over  all  the  Russian  American  coasts  for  more  than 
twenty  years ;  showing  little  respect  to  the  orders  of  the  Directory, 


■*  \ 


I 


I 


■  I 


I' 


•■i  r 


i! 


•  I 


*  Krnsenstern'fl  Account  of  his  Voyage  to  the  North  Pacific. 


I'ii 


1- 


rat'''.' 
H 


Mi-"'! 


! 


tlui 


;.*«!; 


272 


GOVERNMENT    OF    RUSSIAN    AMERICA. 


[1806. 


and  even  to  those  of  the  emperor,  when  they  wore  at  variance  with 
his  own  views.  He  was,  however,  devoted  to  the  interests  of  tlie 
company,  and,  its  affairs  being  most  profitably  managed  under  his 
direction,  he  was  allowed  to  follow  his  own  course,  and  the  com- 
plaints against  him  which  reached  the  Directory  were  unheeded. 
These  complaints  were,  it  is  true,  not  frequent ;  for  the  Directory 
and  the  imperial  throne  at  St.  Petersburg  were  almost  as  completely 
inaccessible  to  the  subjects  and  servants  of  the  company  residing  in 
America,  as  they  would  have  been  in  another  planet.  Among  the  in- 
ferior agents  were  men  of  higher  and  better  character  than  their  chief; 
but  they  were  forced  to  bend  under  his  authority,  and  their  efforts 
to  introduce  improvements  were  vain,  if  they  in  any  degree  conflicted 
with  his  views  as  to  the  immediate  interests  of  the  company. 

Of  the  furs  which  formed  the  whole  returns  from  these  territories, 
some  were  transported  in  the  company's  vessels  to  Petropawlowsk 
and  Ochotsk,  whence  were  brought  back  the  greater  part  of  the 
supplies  of  provisions  for  the  use  of  the  establishments;  the  re- 
mainder of  the  furs  being  exchanged  for  arms,  ammunition,  spirits, 
wine,  tobacco,  sugar,  and  European  manufactures,  furnished  by  the 
trading  ships  of  the  United  States,  of  which  a  large  number  were 
then  constantly  employed  in  the  North  Pacific.  The  presence  of 
these  American  vessels  was  by  no  means  agreeable  to  the  Russians, 
who  would  willingly  have  excluded  them  from  that  part  of  the 
ocean,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  monopolizing  the  fur  trade,  but 
also  in  order  to  prevent  the  natives  of  the  coasts  from  obtaining 
arms  and  ammunition  from  the  Americans,  as  they  frequently  did, 
to  the  detriment  of  the  authority  and  interests  of  the  company. 
This,  however,  could  not  have  been  eflfected  without  maintaining  a 
large  naval  force  in  the  North  Pacific ;  nor  could  the  settlements 
have  been  extended  or  supported  without  the  supplies  furnished  by 
the  Americans,  unless  a  direct  intercourse  were  estabUshed  by  sea 
with  Europe,  China,  or  Japan. 

With  the  view  of  inquiring  what  measures  would  be  most  effect- 
ual for  the  advancement  of  the  interests  of  the  Russian  American 
Company  in  these  and  other  respects,  it  was  determined  at  St. 
Petersburg,  in  1803,  that  an  expedition,  scientific  and  political, 
should  be  made  through  the  North  Pacific.  Two  ships,  the  M- 
deshda,  commanded  by  Captain  Krusenstern,  and  the  Neva,  by 
Captain  Lisiansky,  were  accordingly  despatched  from  Cronstadt, 
in  August  of  that  year,  under  the  direction  of  Krusenstern,  carry- 
ing out  a  large  body  of  officers  and  men,  distinguished  in  various 


1806.] 


VOYAGE    OF    KRUSENSTERN. 


273 


branches  of  science,  together  with  the  chamberlain,  Von  Resanoff, 
who  was  commissioned  as  ambassador  to  Japan,  and  as  plenipoten- 
tiary of  the  Russian  American  Directory. 

The  two  ships  passed  together  around  Cape  Horn,  touched  at  tlie 
Washington  and  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  then  separated ;  the 
Neva  going  to  the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  and  the  Nadeshda 
to  Petropawlowsk,  where  she  arrived  in  the  middle  of  July,  1804. 
From  Kamtchatka,  Krusenstern  proceeded,  with  the  ambassador,  to 
Nangasaki,  the  capital  of  Japan,  at  which  place  their  arrival  only 
served  to  excite  suspicions :  they  were  not  allowed  to  land,  except 
for  the  purpose  of  taking  exercise  in  a  confined  space ;  the  .letter 
and  presents  of  the  Russian  emperor  were  rejected ;  and  the  am- 
bassador was  distinctly  informed  that  no  vessels  belonging  to  his 
nation  would,  in  future,  be  permitted  to  enter  a  Japanese  port. 
After  this  rebuff,  the  Nadeshda  returned  to  Kamtchatka,  and  Kru- 
senstern passed  several  months  in  examining  the  coasts  of  Tartary 
and  the  adjacent  islands  between  that  peninsula  and  Japan  ;  these 
labors  being  completed,  he  went  to  Canton,  where  she  arrived  in  the 
end  of  November,  1805. 

Lisiansky,  in  the  Neva,  had,  in  the  mean  time,  visited  Sitca, 
Kodiak,  and  other  Russian  establishments,  on  the  north-west  coasts 
of  America,  at  which  his  presence  was  advantageous  to  the  interests 
of  the  company,  by  controlling  the  hostile  dispositions  of  the  natives ; 
and  having  performed  all  that  could  be  done  by  him  in  that  quar- 
ter, he  proceeded  to  Canton,  with  a  cargo  of  furs,  and  there  rejoined 
Krusenstern,  in  December,  1805.  The  Chinese  were  found  equally 
as  determined  as  the  Japanese  to  allow  no  commerce  by  sea  with 
the  Russians ;  and  many  difficulties  were  experienced  before  the 
furs  brought  by  the  Neva  could  be  landed  for  sale.  This  business 
being  at  length  despatched,  the  two  vessels  took  their  departure, 
and,  sailing  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  reached  Cronstadt  in 
August,  1806,  having  carried  the  Russian  flag  for  the  first  time 
across  the  equator  and  around  the  world. 

In  the  mean  time,  also.  Von  Resanoflf, — a  singularly  ridiculous 
and  incompetent  person, — after  the  failure  of  his  embassy  to  Japan, 
had  gone,  as  plenipotentiary  of  the  Russian  American  Company,  to 
Sitca,  where  he  passed  the  winter  of  1805-1806,  engaged  in  devis- 
ing plans  for  the  conduct  of  the  company's  affairs,  all  of  which  were 
quietly  set  aside  by  the  chief  agent,  Baranof.  The  propriety  of 
expelling  the  Americans  from  the  North  Pacific  was  at  the  same 
time  rendered  questionable,  by  the  fact  that  the  garrison  and  set- 
35 


H 


M 


♦ 


1'' 


f 


il.i 


^^  . 


M 


■■:'l 


'-m\ 


:  l4 


!,u; '' 


:\S\'\: 


m 


*3  111 


4|  \  /  ^ 


■7  J 


>f' 


m 


wm  t 


I 


'U  ' 


:  rt-      '     'bill  i 


274 


VOYAGE    OF    KRUSENSTERN. 


[1808. 


tiers  at  this  place  would  have  all  perished  from  famine,  had  they 
not  fortunately  been  supplied  with  provisions  by  the  ship  Juno,  from 
Rhode  Island.  This  ship  was  purchased  for  the  use  of  the  company, 
and  Von  Resanoff,  embarking  in  her,  sailed  along  the  coast  to  Cal- 
ifornia, endeavoring,  in  his  way,  but  without  success,  to  enter  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  where  he  proposed  to  form  a  settlement ; 
and  having  spent  some  time  in  trifling  at  San  Francisco,  he  returned 
to  Kamtchatka,  on  his  way  from  which  to  Europe  he  died. 

Though  not  one  of  the  commercial  or  political  objects  proposed 
by  this  expedition  was  attained,  it  was,  nevertheless,  productive  of 
great  advantages,  not  only  to  l!ie  Russians,  but  to  the  cause  of  hu- 
manity and  of  science  in  general ;  particularly  by  the  rectification 
of  numerous  errors  in  the  charts  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  by  the 
exposure  of  the  abuses  in  the  administration  of  the  Russian  Amer- 
ican Company's  dominions,  which  led  to  the  immediate  removal  of 
many  of  them.  No  one  could  have  been  better  qualified  for  the 
direction  of  such  an  expedition  than  Krusenstern,  whose  narrative 
is  equally  honorable  to  him  as  a  commander,  as  a  man  of  science, 
and  as  a  philanthropist.  Those  who  wish  to  learn  at  what  cost  of 
human  life  and  suffering  the  furs  of  the  North  Pacific  coasts  are  pro- 
cured, will  find  ample  information  on  the  subject  in  his  pages ;  while, 
at  the  same  time,  he  presents  instances  of  fortitude,  perseverance, 
and  good  feeling,  on  the  part  of  his  countrymen,  calculated  to  coun- 
teract, in  a  great  measure,  the  unfavorable  impressions,  with  regard 
to  them,  which  his  other  details  might  have  produced.* 

In  1808,  soon  after  the  return  of  Krusenstern's  ships  to  Europe, 
diplomatic  relations  were  established  between  Russia  and  the  United 
States ;  and  in  the  following  year,  a  representation  was  addressed 
by  the  court  of  St.  Petersburg  to  the  government  of  the  Union, 
on  the  subject  of  the  illicit  trade  of  American  citizens  with  the 
natives  of  the  North  Pacific  coasts,  by  means  of  which  those  savages 
were  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
authority  and  interests  of  the  emperor  and  his  people  in  that  portion 


•  Accounts  of  this  expedition  have  been  published  by  Krusenstern,  by  Lisianskj, 
and  by  Langsdorf,  the  surgeon  of  the  Nadeshda,  all  of  which  have  been  translated 
into  English  and  other  European  languages. 

Krusenstern  was,  soon  afler  his  return  to  Russia,  raised  to  the  rank  of  admiral.  He 
Btill  lives  at  St.  Petersburg,  honored  by  his  government,  and  esteemed  by  all  who 
know  him.  His  communications  frequently  appear  in  the  reports  of  the  proceedings 
of  various  scientific  societies  in  Europe ;  they  are  chiefly  respecting  the  hydrography 
of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  to  which  subject  his  labors  have  been  long  and  assiduously 
devoted,  with  results  important  and  beneficial  to  the  whole  world. 


1810.]       PROPOSITIONS    OF    RUSSIA   TO    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


275 


of  his  dominions.  A  desire  was  at  the  same  time  expressed,  that 
some  act  should  be  passed  by  Congress,  of  some  convention  be 
concluded  between  the  two  nations,  which  might  have  the  effect  of 
preventing  the  continuance  of  such  irregularities.  No  disposition 
being  shown  by  the  American  government  to  adopt  any  of  those 
measures,  Count  Romanzoff,  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  at  St. 
Petersburg,  proposed  to  Mr.  John  Quincy  Adams,  the  plenipoten- 
tiary of  the  United  States  at  that  court,  an  arrangement,  by  which 
the  vessels  of  the  Union  should  supply  the  Russian  settlements  on 
the  Pacific  with  provisions  and  manufactures,  and  should  transport 
the  furs  of  the  company  to  Canton,  under  the  restriction  of  their 
abstaining  from  all  intercourse  with  the  natives  of  the  north-west 
coasts  of  America.  Mr.  Adams,  in  his  answer,  showed  several 
reasons  for  which  his  government  could  not,  with  propriety,  accede 
to  this  proposition ;  and  he  moreover  desired  to  know  within  what 
limits  it  was  expected  that  the  restriction  should  be  observed.  This 
question  was,  doubtless,  embarrassing  to  the  Russian  minister,  who, 
however,  after  some  time,  replied,  that  the  Russian  American  Com- 
pany claimed  the  whole  coast  of  America  on  the  Pacific  and  the 
adjacent  islands,  from  Bering's  Strait,  southward  to  and  beyond 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River ;  whereupon  the  correspondence 
was  immediately  terminated. 

There  was,  certainly,  no  disposition,  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  to  encourage  their  citizens  in  the  trade  which  formed  the 
subject  of  the  complaints  of  the  Russians,  or  to  offend  that  power 
by  refusing  to  cooperate  in  suppressing  such  a  trade.  But  the 
American  government  properly  considered  that  no  means  existed 
for  enforcing  the  restrictions,  with  justice  and  regularity,  even  on 
the  coasts  which  might  be  admitted  to  belong  to  Russia  ;  while,  at 
the  same  time,  the  right  of  that  nation  to  the  possession  of  the 
coasts  so  far  south  as  the  Columbia,  could  not  be  recognized,  for 
reasons  which  will  be  made  apparent  in  the  ensuing  chapter. 


M''l' 


■f!      :,    •     i 


n 


I; 


vm 


276 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


1803  TO  1806. 


Cession  of  Louisiana  by  France  to  the  United  States  —  Inquiries  as  to  the  true  Extent 
of  Louisiana  —  Erroneous  Supposition  that  its  Limits  towards  the  North  had  been 
fixed  by  Commissaries  agreeably  to  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  —  President  Jefferson 
sends  Lewis  and  Clarke  to  examine  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  —  Account  of  their 
Expedition  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific. 


If- 


4; 


•  f-lu 


^iiiili: 


The  discovery,  or  rediscovery,  of  the  Columbia  River,  by  Gray, 
remained  almost  entirely  unknown,  until  it  was  communicated  to  the 
world  by  the  publication  of  the  narrative  of  Vancouver's  expedition, 
in  1798  ;  at  which  time,  and  for  several  years  afterwards,  no  one 
imagined  that  any  thing  connected  with  that  river  would  ever  be- 
come particularly  interesting  to  the  people  or  government  of  the 
United  States  of  America. 

The  territories  of  the  United  States  were,  at  that  time,  all  in- 
cluded between  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  east  and  the  Mississippi 
River  on  the  west.  In  the  north  were  the  British  provinces ;  in  the 
south  lay  Florida,  belonging  to  Spain  ;  and  beyond  the  Mississippi, 
the  Spaniards  also  claimed  the  vast  region  called  Louisiana,  stretch- 
ing from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  northward  and  north-westward  to  an 
undefined  extent.  Thus  all  communication  between  the  States  of 
the  Federal  Union  and  the  Pacific  was  completely  cut  off,  by  the  in- 
terposition of  countries  possessed  by  foreign  and  unfriendly  nations. 

The  position  of  the  United  States,  and  of  their  government  and 
people,  with  regard  to  the  north-western  portion  of  the  continent, 
was,  however,  entirely  changed  after  the  30th  of  April,  1803,  when 
Louisiana,  which  had  been  ceded  by  Spain  to  France  in  1 800,  came 
into  their  possession,  by  purchase  from  the  latter  power.  From  that 
moment,  the  route  across  the  continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pa- 
cific lay  open  to  the  Americans ;  and  nothing  could  be  anticipated 
capable  of  arresting  their  progress  in  the  occupation  of  the  whole 
territory  included  between  those  seas. 

Before  relating  the  measures  taken  by  the  government  of  the 
United  States  in  consequence  of  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana,  it  will 


1712.] 


GRANT    OF    LOUISIANA   TO    CROZAT. 


277 


be  convenient  to  present  some  observations  respecting  the  northern 
and  western  Hmits  of  that  portion  of  America. 

The  first  discovery  of  the  southern  part  of  the  Mississippi  and  the 
adjacent  countries,  by  the  Spaniards,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  has 
been  already  mentioned.  The  northern  branches  of  that  river  were 
explored  in  the  latter  years  of  the  seventeenth  century,  by  the  French, 
from  Canada ;  *  and  before  1710,  many  French  colonies  and  posts  had 
been  established  on  its  banks,  in  virtue  of  which.  King  Louis  XIV. 
claimed  possession  of  all  the  territories  to  a  great  distance  on  either 
side  of  the  stream.  In  1712,  the  exclusive  trade  of  the  southern 
division  of  these  territories,  then  called  Louisiana,  was  granted  by 
King  Louis  to  Antoine  Crozat,  in  a  royal  decree  or  charter,  bearing 
date  the  17th  of  September,  which  contains  the  earliest  exposition  of 
the  limits  of  that  region.  The  words  of  the  decree  are  as  follows :  f 
"Nous  avons  par  ces  presentes,  signees  de  notre  main,  etabli  et 
etablissons  ledit  Sieur  Crozat,  pour  faire  seul,  le  commerce  dans 
toutes  les  terres  par  Nous  possedees,  et  bornees  par  le  Nouveau  Mex- 
ique,  et  par  celles  des  Anglais  de  la  Caroline,  tous  les  etablissemens, 
ports,  havres,  rivieres,  et  principalement  le  port  et  havre  de  I'isle 
Dauphine,  appellee  autrefois  de  Massacre,  le  fleuve  St.  Louis,  au- 
trefois appellee  Mississippy,  depuis  le  bord  de  la  mer  jusqu'aux  Illinois, 
ensemble  les  rivieres  St.  Philippe,  autrefois  appellee  des  Missourys, 
et  St.  Hierosme,  autrefois  appellee  Ouabache,  avec  tous  les  pays, 
contrees,  lacs  dans  les  terres,  et  les  rivieres  qui  tombent  directement 
ou  indirectement  dans  cctte  partie  du  fleuve  St.  Louis.    Voulons 


■1 


u    1 

1', 

»!•■■!''■ 

10 

'  ( 

i 

i 

1 

■  i 

i 

1 
.1' 

ij;; 

i.:-} 


i: 


I'l  I 


*  Jeffreys — or  whoever  wrote  the  history  of  the  French  dominions  in  America,  pub- 
lished under  the  name  of  Jeffreys,  in  175i>  —  says,  at  p.  134  of  that  work,  "  The  Mis- 
sissippi, the  chief  of  all  the  rivers  of  Louisiana,  which  it  divides  almost  into  two  equal 
parts,  was  discovered  by  Colonel  Wood,  who  spent  almost  ten  years,  or  from  1654  to 
1664,  in  searching  its  course,  as  also  by  Captain  Bolt,  in  1670." 

t  "We  have,  by  these  presents,  signed  with  our  hand,  authorized,  and  do  authorize, 
the  said  Sieur  Crozat,  to  carry  on  exclusively  the  trade  in  all  the  territories  by  us  pos- 
sessed, and  bounded  by  New  Mexico  and  by  those  of  the  English  in  Carolina,  all  the 
establishments,  ports,  harbors,  rivers,  and  especially  the  port  and  harbor  of  Dauphin 
Island,  formerly  called  Massacre  Island,  the  River  St.  Louis,  formerly  called  the  Mis- 
sissippi, from  the  sea-shore  to  the  Illinois,  together  with  the  Rivers  St.  Philip,  formerly 
called  the  Missouries  River,  and  the  St.  Jerome,  formerly  called  the  Wabash,  [the 
Ohio,]  with  all  the  countries,  territories,  lakes  in  the  land,  and  the  rivers  emptying 
directly  or  indirectly  into  that  part  of  the  River  St.  Louis.  All  the  said  territories, 
countries,  rivers,  streams,  and  islands,  we  will  to  be  and  remain  comprised  under  the 
name  of  the  government  of  Louisiana,  which  shall  be  dependent  on  the  general  gov- 
ernment of  New  France,  and  remain  subordinate  to  it ;  and  we  will,  moreover,  that 
all  the  territories  which  we  possess  on  this  side  of  the  Illinois,  be  united,  as  far  as  need 
be,  to  the  general  government  of  New  France,  and  form  a  part  thereof;  reserving  to 
ourself,  nevertheless,  to  increase,  if  we  judge  proper,  the  extent  of  the  government 
of  the  said  country  of  Louisiana." 


n 


'  It. 


in 


'\M\ 


tan  ^1' 


m ; 


'rn.j 


i. 


\i    1. 


^l 


278 


LOUISIANA    CEDED    BY    FRANCE    TO    SPAIN. 


[1762. 


que  les  dites  terres,  contrees,  fleuves,  rivieres  et  isles,  soient  et  de- 
meurent  compris  sous  le  nom  du  gouverncment  de  la  Louisiane,  qui 
sera  dependant  du  gouvernement  general  de  la  Nouvelle  France, 
auquel  il  demeurera  subordonne ;  et  voulons  en  outre,  que  toutcs 
les  terres  que  nous  possedons,  depuis  les  Illinois,  soient  reunies,  en 
tant  que  besoin  est,  au  gouvernement  general  de  la  Nouvelle  France, 
et  en  fassent  partie ;  Nous  reservant  neanmoins  d'augmentcr,  si 
nous  le  jugeons  a  propos,  I'etendue  du  gouvernement  du  dit  pays 
de  la  Louisiane." 

This  description  of  the  extent  of  Louisiana  was  sufficiently  defi- 
nite for  the  immediate  purposes  of  the  concession :  as  the  trade  and 
settlement  of  the  country  would  necessarily  be,  for  a  long  time,  con- 
fined to  the  vicinity  of  the  great  rivers,  the  precise  determination  of 
its  boundaries  on  the  east  and  the  west  might  well  be  deferred  for 
future  arrangement  with  Great  Britain  and  Spain.  Crozat  relin- 
quished his  privilege  in  1717  ;  the  Illinois  country  was  then  annexed 
to  Louisiana,  by  a  royal  decree,  and  the  whole  region  was  granted 
to  the  Compagnie  rf'  Orient,  better  known  as  Laic's  Mississippi  Com- 
pany, which  held  it  until  1732 :  in  that  year  it  reverted  to  the 
French  crown,  and  was  governed  as  a  French  province  until  1769. 
On  the  3d  of  November,  1762,  the  preliminaries  of  peace  were 
signed  at  Paris,  between  France  and  Spain  on  the  one  part,  and 
England  and  Portugal  on  the  other ;  and  on  the  same  day,  "  the 
most  Christian  king  authorized  his  minister,  the  duke  de  Choiscul, 
to  deliver  to  the  marquis  di  Grimaldi,  the  ambassador  of  the  Cathohc 
king,  in  the  most  authentic  form,  an  act,  whereby  his  most  Christian 
majesty  cedes,  in  entire  possession,  purely  and  simply,  without  ex- 
ception, to  his  Catholic  majesty,  and  his  successors  in  perpetuity,  all 
the  country  known  under  the  name  of  Louisiana,  as  also  New  Or- 
leans and  the  island  in  which  that  city  is  situated."  The  cession 
accordingly  took  place  in  form,  on  the  23d  of  the  same  month,  in 
precisely  the  same  terms  as  to  the  extent  of  the  territory  ceded ;  * 
and  on  the  10th  of  February  following,  a  treaty  was  concluded  at 
Paris,  between  Fra-ce  and  Spain  on  the  one  part,  and  Great  Britain 
and  Portugal  on  the  other,  by  which  Great  Britain  obtained  posses- 
sion of  Canada,  Florida,  and  the  portion  of  Louisiana  "  east  of  a 
line,  drawn  along  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi,  from  its  source  to 


*  The  documents  relating  to  this  cession  were  kept  secret  until  1836,  when  copies 
of  them  were  obtained  from  the  archives  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  at  Mad- 
rid, by  the  late  J.  M.  White,  of  Florida;  from  which  translations  were  made  by  the 
author  of  this  History,  and  published  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  1837. 


M}i  s  ,' 


•♦■I'  kt 


IN. 


[1762. 


B8,  soient  et  de- 
i  Louisianc,  qui 
[ouvelle  France, 
utre,  que  toutes 
Ment  reunies,  en 
»fouvelle  France, 
d'augmenter,  si 
leiit  du  dit  pays 

sufficiently  defi- 
es the  trade  and 
I  long  time,  con- 
ietermination  of 
I  be  deferred  for 
1.     Crozat  relin- 
ks then  annexed 
^on  was  granted 
Mississippi  Corn- 
reverted  to  the 
^ince  until  1769. 
i  of  peace  were 
le  one  part,  and 
same  day,  "  the 
uke  de  Choiseul, 
»r  of  the  Catholic 
is  most  Christian 
ply,  without  ex- 
in  perpetuity,  all 
as  also  New  Or- 
The  cession 
same  month,  in 
jrritory  ceded ;  * 
as  concluded  at 
nd  Great  Britain 
obtained  posses- 
iana  "  east  of  a 
m  its  source  to 

il  1836,  when  copies 
eign  Affairs  at  Mad- 
s  were  made  by  the 
d  States,  in  1837. 


1800.] 


LOUISIANA    RETRO-CGDED   TO    FRANCE. 


279 


the  River  Ilierville,  and  thence  along  the  middle  of  the  Iberville, 
and  the  Lakes  Maurcpas  and  Pontchartrain,  to  the  sea."  In  this 
treaty,  Great  Britain  formally  renounced  all  claims  to  territories  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  whether  based  on  royal  charters  granted  to  colo- 
nies planted  on  the  Atlantic  coasts,  or  on  any  other  grounds :  no 
mention  is  made  of  the  previous  cession  of  any  part  of  Louisiana 
to  Spain,  which  was  not  promulgated  until  1764 ;  nor  did  the 
Spaniards  obtain  actual  possession  of  New  Orleans,  or  the  territory 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  until  1769. 

From  that  period  until  Louisiana  came  into  the  possession  of  the 
United  States,  its  extent  and  limits  were  not  defined,  and  could  not 
have  been  affected  by  any  treaty  or  public  act,  which  has  been  as 
yet  communicated  to  the  world.  Louisiana  was  retro-ceded  by  Spain 
to  France,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1800,  "with  the  same  extent," 
says  the  treaty,  "  that  it  now  has  in  the  hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it 
had  when  France  possessed  it,  and  such  as  it  should  be,  after  the 
treaties  subsequently  entered  into  between  Spain  and  other  states ; " 
and  it  was  transferred  by  France  to  the  United  States  on  the  30th 
of  April,  1803,  "with  all  its  rights  and  appurtenances,  as  fully,  and 
in  the  same  manner,  as  they  have  been  acquired  by  the  French 
republic,  in  virtue  of  the  above-mentioned  treaty  with  his  Cath- 
olic majesty."  * 

•  See  the  treaty  of  1803,  in  which  the  part  of  the  treaty  of  1800,  above  quoted, 
13  recited.  It  is,  however,  worthy  of  remark,  that,  in  the  copy  of  the  treaty  of  1800, 
obtained  by  the  late  J.  M.  White  from  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  at  Madrid, 
as  above  mentioned  in  the  note  at  p.  278,  the  words  quoted  in  the  treaty  of  1803  —  "ef 
ipielle  arait  lorsque  la  France  la  possddait,  et  telle  qu'elle  doit  itre,  d'aprts  les  traites 
passis  suhsiquemmtnt  entre  VEspagne"  —  do  not  appear;  the  third  article  of  the 
former  treaty  being  simply  thus:  "Srt  Majestt  Catholique  promct  et  s'engnge  de  son 
cuti  n  rilrocedcr  h  la  R^publique  Fran<;aise  sir.  ntois  aprts  Vrjf.cvtion  pleine  et  entiere 
its  conditions  et  stipulations  ci-dessus  relatirei  d  son  Altesse  Royale  le  Due  de  Parme 
la  colonie  ou  province  de  la  Louisiane,  avec  la  meme  itendue  qu'elle  a  aduellement  entre 
les  viains  de  VEspagne  et  d'autres  Etats."  There  appears  to  be  no  reason  to  doubt 
the  exactness  of  the  copy  obtained  by  Mr.  White,  as  it  was  made  in  the  office  of  the 
Department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  and  bears  the  seal  and  certificate  of  the  keeper  of  the 
archives  of  that  department,  by  whom  it  was  transmitted  to  the  Spanish  minister  plen- 
ipotentiary at  Washington,  who  delivered  it,  afler  affixing  his  seal  and  certificate,  to 
Mr.  White.  If  its  authenticity  be  admitted,  a  vast  field  is  certamly  opened  for  con- 
jectures, upon  which,  however,  it  would  be  improper  here  to  enter. 

That  any  settlement  of  the  western  boundaries  of  Louisiana  should  have  been 
made  on  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  of  1762,  or  of  that  of  1800,  is  not  probable.  In 
the  first  case,  it  would  have  been  superfluous,  as  Louisiana  would  certainly  have  joined 
the  other  territories  of  Spain  in  that  direction ;  and,  in  1800,  it  was  clearly  the  inter- 
est of  Buonaparte,  as  the  stronger  power,  to  have  the  extent  of  Louisiana  undefined, 
in  order  that  he  might  place  its  boundaries,  in  future,  where  they  would  be  moit  con« 
venient  for  his  ends. 


♦' 


^•IW»I    ,jj! 


.(■J'i 


i 


':  I 


i'! 


ii, 


I- 


M    ' 


$^Hi 


■■  J.i 


*!■ 


280 


LOUISIAN/k    CEDED   TO   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


[1803. 


At  the  time  A'hen  the  treaty  for  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the 
United  States  was  concluded,  the  Spaniards  still  remained  in  pos- 
Ression  of  the  country ;  the  order  from  the  court  of  Madrid  for  the 
delivery  to  France,  was  not  executed  until  the  30th  of  November, 
1804,  twenty  days  after  which  the  surrender  to  the  American  com- 
missioners took  place  in  due  form  at  New  Orleans.  The  Spanish 
government  had  already  protested  against  the  transfer  of  Louisiana 
to  the  United  States,  as  being  contrary  to  engagements  previously 
made  by  France,  of  which,  however,  no  proof  was  adduced ;  and 
some  disposition  was  at  first  manifested  on  the  part  of  the  Spanish 
authorities  at  New  Orleans,  and  in  the  provinces  of  Mexico  adjacent, 
to  dispute  the  entrance  of  the  Americans.  This  opposition  was,  how- 
ever, abandoned,  and  a  negotiation  was  commenced  at  Madrid,  in 
1804,  between  the  governments  of  the  United  States  and  Spain, 
for  the  adjustment  of  the  lines  which  were  to  separate  their  re- 
spective territories. 

In  this  negotiation,  the  United  States  claimed  the  whole  of  the 
territory  ceded  by  France  to  Spain  in  1762,  with  the  exception  of 
the  portion  east  of  the  Mississippi,  which  had  been  surrendered  to 
Great  Britain  in  1763 ;  and  this  territory  was  considered  by  them 
as  including  the  whole  coast  on  the  Mexican  Gulf,  from  the  Perdido 
River  as  the  western  limit  of  Florida,  west  and  south  to  the  River 
Bravo  del  Norte  as  the  north-east  boundary  of  Mexico,  with  all  the 
intermediate  rivers  and  all  the  countries  drained  by  them,  not  pre- 
viously possessed  by  the  United  States.  The  Spanish  government, 
on  its  side,  contended  —  that  France  had  never  rightfully  possessed 
any  part  of  America  west  of  the  Mississippi,  the  whole  of  which 
had  belonged  to  Spain  ever  since  its  discovery  —  that  the  French 
establishments  in  that  territory  were  all  intrusive,  and  had  only 
been  tolerated  by  Spain,  for  the  sake  of  preserving  peace ;  and  — 
that  the  Louisiana  ceded  to  Spain  by  France  in  1762,  and  retro- 
ceded  to  France  in  1800,  and  transferred  by  the  latter  power  to  the 
United  States  in  1803,  could  not,  in  justice,  be  considered  as  com- 
prising more  than  New  Orleans,  with  the  tract  in  its  vicinity  east  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  country  immediately  bordering  on  the  west 
bank  of  that  river.  The  parties  were  thus  completely  at  variance 
on  fundamental  principles ;  and,  neither  being  disposed  to  yield,  the 
negotiation,  after  having  been  carried  on  for  some  months,  was 
broken  off,  and  it  was  not  renewed  until  1817.  Meanwhile,  how- 
ever, the  United  States  remained  in  possession  of  nearly  all  the 


1804.J 


NORTHERN    BUUNUARY    OF    LOUISIANA. 


281 


■Ih 


territories  drained  by  the  Mississippi ;  the  Sabine  River  being,  by 
tacit  consent,  regarded  as  the  dividing  line  between  Louisiana 
and  the  Mexican  provinces. 

A  negotiation  was  at  the  same  time  in  progress,  between  the 
government  of  the  United  States  and  that  of  Great  Britain,  re- 
specting the  northern  boundary  of  Louisiana,  for  which  the  Amer- 
icans claimed  a  line  running  along  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude, 
upon  the  grounds  that  this  parallel  had  been  adopted  and  dejinitive- 
Jy  settled,  by  commissaries  appointed  agreeably  to  the  tenth  article 
of  the  treaty  concluded  at  Utrecht,  in  1713,  as  the  dividing  line 
betiveen  the  French  possessions  of  Western  Canada  and  Louisiana  on 
the  south,  and  the  British  territories  of  Hudson's  Bay  on  the  north ; 
and  that,  this  treaty  having  been  specially  confirmed  in  the  treaty 
nf  1763,  by  which  Canada  and  the  part  of  Louisiana  east  of  the 
Mississippi  and  Iberville  were  ceded  to  Great  Britain,  the  remainder 
of  Louisiana  continued,  as  before,  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  49th 
parallel. 

This  conclusion  would  be  undeniable,  if  the  premises  on  which 
it  is  founded  were  correct.  The  tenth  article  of  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht  docs  certainly  stipulate  that  commissaries  should  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  governments  of  Great  Britain  and  France  respec- 
tively, to  determine  the  line  of  separation  between  their  possessions 
in  the  northern  part  of  America  above  specified ;  and  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  persons  were  commissioned  for  that  object : 
hut  there  is  no  evidence  which  can  be  admitted  as  establishing  the  fact 
that  a  line  running  along  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude,  or  any  other 
line,  was  ever  adopted,  or  even  proposed,  by  those  commissaries,  or  by 
their  governments,  as  the  limit  of  any  part  of  the  French  possessions 
on  the  north,  and  of  the  British  Hudson's  Bay  territories  on  the 
south. 

It  is  true  that,  on  some  maps  of  Northern  America,  published  in 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  a  line  drawn  along  the  49th  parallel 
does  appear  as  a  part  of  the  boundary  between  the  French  posses- 
sions and  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories,  as  settled  according  to  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht :  but,  on  other  maps,  which  are  deservedly  held 
in  higher  estimation,  a  different  line,  following  the  course  of  the 
highlands  encircling  Hudson's  Bay,  is  presented  as  the  limit  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  territory,  agreeably  to  the  same  treaty  ;  and,  in  other 
maps  again,  enjoying  equal,  if  not  greater,  consideration,  as  having 
been  published  under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  British  gov- 
36 


i'     I 

I     > 


!  :i ' 


1  M 


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!   "i 


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i  -i; 


,1  ;;»  i  tilSf 


tit 


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■I: 


K  i  li  I  ;  ! 


h      ,;■ 

r"1 

1-    ■^:M 

1 
I 

282         TREATY  BKTWKEN  ENnLANO  AND  THE  UNITED  STATES.    [1807. 

ernment,  no  line  separating  those  British  possessions  from  Louisiana 
or  Canada  is  to  be  seen.  In  the  other  works,  politicpl,  historical, 
and  geographical,  which  have  been  examined  with  reference  to  this 
question,  nothing  has  been  found  calculated  to  sustain  the  belief 
that  any  line  of  separation  was  ever  settled,  or  even  proposed ;  nor 
has  any  trace  of  such  an  agreement  been  discovered  in  the  archives 
of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  France,  which  have  been 
recently  searched  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  fact.* 

The  belief,  nevertheless,  that  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude  was 
fixed,  by  commissaries  of  Great  Britain  and  France,  appointed 
agreeably  to  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  as  the  north- 
ern limit  of  Louisiana  and  Western  Canada,  has  been  hitherto 
universally  entertained  without  suspicion  in  the  United  States,  and 
has  formed  the  basis  of  most  important  treaties. 

During  the  negotiations  above  mentioned,  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  no  attempt  was  made,  on  the  part  of  the 
latter  power,  to  controvert  the  assertion  of  the  Americans  respeciint; 
this  supposed  boundary  line ;  and,  in  the  treaty  signed  by  the 
plenipotentiaries  on  the  termination  of  the  discussion,  in  April. 
1807,  it  was  agreed  that  <'a  line  drawn  due  north  or  south  (us  the 
case  may  require)  from  the  most  north-western  point  of  the  Lake  of 
the  Woods,  until  it  shall  intersect  the  49th  parallel  of  north  latitude, 
and  from  the  point  of  such  intersection,  due  west,  along  and  with 
the  said  parallel,  shall  be  the  dividing  line  between  his  majesty's 
territories  and  those  of  the  United  States,  to  the  westward  of  the 
said  lake,  as  far  as  their  said  respective  territories  extend  in  that 
quarter;  and  that  the  said  line  shall,  to  that  extent,  form  tlie 
southern  boundary  of  his  majesty's  said  territories  and  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  said  territories  of  the  United  States:  Provided, 
That  nothing  in  the  present  article  shall  be  construed  to  extend 
to  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  or  to  the  territories  belonging 
to  or  claimed  by  either  party  on  the  continent  of  America  to  the 
westward  of  the  Stony  Mountains."  f  This  article  was  approved 
by  both  governments;  President  Jefferson,  nevertheless,  wished 
that  the  proviso  respecting  the  north-west  coast  should  be  omitted, 
as  it  "could  have  little  othbr  effect  than  as  an  offensive  intimation 
to  Spain  that  the  claims  of  the  United  States  extend  to  the  Pacific 

*  See  Proofs  and  IlIuBtrations,  in  the  concludinir  part  of  this  volume,  under  the 
letter  F. 
t  President  Jefierson's  Message  to  Congress  of  March  226,  1808. 


STATES.    [1807. 


I803.J 


WESTERN    BOUNDARY    OF    LOUISIANA. 


383 


■■-♦' 


Ocean.  However  reasonable  such  claims  may  be,  compared  with 
those  of  others,  it  is  impolitic,  especially  at  the  present  moment,  to 
strengthen  Spanish  jealouHics  of  the  United  States,  which  it  is 
probably  an  object  with  Great  Britain  to  excite,  by  the  clause  in 
question."  The  outrage  committed,  about  that  time,  by  the  British, 
upon  the  American  frigate  Chesapeake,  together  with  the  change 
in  the  British  ministry,  prevented  the  ratification  of  this  treaty  ;  and 
tlie  question  of  boundaries  was  not  again  discussed  between  the 
two  nations  until  1814. 

How  far  Louisiana  extended  westward  when  it  was  ceded  by 
Franco  to  Spain,  history  offers  no  means  of  determining.  The 
charter  granted  to  Crozat,  in  1712,  included  only  the  territories 
drained  by  the  Mississippi  south  of  the  Illinois  country ;  and, 
thou^'h  the  Illinois  was  annexed  to  Louisiana  in  1717,  nothing  can 
be  found  showing  what  territories  were  comprehended  under  that 
|reneral  appellation.  In  the  old  French  maps,  JVcm>  France  is 
represented  as  extending  across  the  continent  to  the  Pacific:  in 
British  maps,  of  the  same  period,  a  large  portion  of  the  territory 
thus  assigned  to  New  France,  appears  as  New  England  or  as  Fir- 
^nitt ;  while  the  Spanish  geographers  claimed  the  same  portion  for 
their  sovereign,  under  the  names  of  New  Mexico  and  California. 
Whilst  Louisiana  remained  in  the  ()ossession  of  Spain,  it  was 
certainly  never  considered  as  embracing  either  New  Mexico  or 
California ;  though  whether  it  was  so  considered  or  not,  is  imma- 
terial to  the  question  as  to  its  western  limits  in  1803,  which  were, 
by  the  treaty,  to  l)e  the  same  as  in  1762.  In  the  absence  of  all 
light  on  the  subject  from  history,  we  are  forced  to  regard  the 
boundaries  indicated  by  nature  —  namely,  the  highlands  separating 
the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  from  those  flowing  into  the  Pacific  or 
the  Californian  Gulf — as  the  true  western  boundaries  of  the  Lou- 
isiana ceded  to  the  United  States  by  France  in  1803. 

Of  the  countries  in  which  the  sources  of  the  Missouri  and  the 
other  great  western  branches  of  the  Mississippi  were  situated,  and  of 
those  farther  west,  to  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Pacific,  nothing 
whatsoever  was  known  when  Louisiana  came  into  the  possession  of 
the  United  States ;  but  even  before  the  transfer  was  completed,  the 
prompt  and  sagacious  Jefferson,  then  president  of  the  republic, 
was  preparing  to  have  that  part  of  the  continent  examined  by 
American  agents.  On  the  18th  of  January,  1803,  he  addressed  to 
the  Congress  of  the  Union  a  confidential  message,  recommending 
that  means  should  be  taken  for  the  purpose  without  delay ;  and» 


iif: 


M 


Mj 


.1  ■  I 


ii 


■  ■!.;■! 


;  t. 


Si 


■n 


284 


EXPEDITION    Ol'    mWli    AND    CLAHKL    TU   THE    WEST.    [IS'Oo. 


■.u 


It  <i 

:i 
j^    ■ 


'■'■:  r 


■L 


his  suggestions  having  been  approved,  hu  coninuHHiotied  Cuptuicg 
Meriwether  Lewis  and  William  Clarke  to  explore  the  River  Mis- 
souri  and  its  principal  hranclie.s  to  their  sources,  and  then  to  .sock 
and  trace  to  its  termination  in  the  Pacific,  some  stream,  «  whttlicr 
the  Columbia,  the  Oregon,  the  Colorado,  or  any  ofh^r,  which  njij,'lii 
offer  the  most  direct  and  practicable  water  communicutinn  across 
the  continent,  for  the  purposes  of  co'iinierce."  Other  persons 
were,  at  the  same  time,  appointed  to  exaiiuiif;  the  Upper  Mississipj)i, 
and  the  principal  streams  fulling  into  that  great  river  from  the  west, 
below  the  Missouri,  in  order  that  exact  information  might,  as  soon 
as  possible,  be  procured,  with  regard  to  the^channels  of  coninmnU 
cation  throughout  the  newly-acquired  territories. " 

A  few  days  after  Lewis  had  received  his  instructions  os  com- 
mander of  the  party  which  was  to  cross  the  continent,  the  news  of 
the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  for  the  cession  of  Louisiana  reached 
the  United  States ;  and  he  immediately  set  otf  for  the  west,  with 
the  expectation  of  advancing  some  distance  up  the  Missouri  before 
the  winter.  He  was,  however,  unable  to  pass  the  Mississippi  in 
that  year,  in  consequence  of  the  delay  in  the  surrender  of  the 
country,  which  was  not  terminated  until  the  latter  part  of  Decem- 
ber ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of  May,  1804.  that  he  could 
begin  the  ascent  of  the  Missouri.  His  party  consisted  of  forty-four 
men,  who  were  embarked  in  three  boats  ;  their  progress  against  the 
current  of  the  mighty  river  was  necessarily  slow,  yet,  before  the 
end  of  October,  they  arrived  in  the  country  of  the  Mandan  Indians, 
where  they  remained  until  the  following  April,  encamped  at  a  place 
neor  the  48th  degree  of  latitude,  sixteen  hundred  miles  from  the 
Mississippi. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  1805,  Lewis  and  Clarke  left  their  encamp- 
ment in  the  Mandan  country,  with  thirty  men,  the  others  having 
been  sent  back  to  St.  Louis  ;  and,  after  a  voyage  of  three  weeks  up 
the  Missouri,  they  reached  the  junction  of  that  river  with  the  other 
principal  branch,  scarcely  inferior  in  magnitude,  called  by  the  old 
French  traders  the  Roche  jaimc,  or  Yellowstone  River.  Thence 
continuing  their  progress  westward  on  the  main  stream,  their  navi- 
gation was,  on  the  13th  of  June,  arrested  by  the  Great  Falls  of  the 
Missouri,  a  series  of  cataracts  extending  about  ten  miles  in  length, 
in  the  principal  of  which  the  whole  river  rushes  over  a  precipice  of 
rock  eighty-seven  feet  in  height.  Above  the  falls,  the  party  again 
embarked  in  canoes  hollowed  out  from  the  trunks  of  the  largest 
cotton-wood  trees,  growing  near  the  river ;  and,  advancing  south- 


B    WEST.    [loO.j. 


ldU5.J 


PASSAUi:    Ur    THE    RUCKY    MUL'NTAINS. 


285 


'^  ! 


ward,  ll>cy,  on  the  19lh  of  July,  paHsed  through  the  Gates  of  the 
ttocky  Mountains,  where  the  MiHsouri,  eiiic'r<,'iiig  from  that  chain, 
ruiiH,  for  six  miles,  in  a  narrow  channel,  between  i)erpcndicuhir 
para|)ett)  of  black  rock,  rising  twelve  hundred  feet  above  itM  surface. 
Beyond  this  place,  the  river  is  formed  by  the  confluence  of  several 
streams,  the  largest  of  which,  named  by  Lewis  the  Jefferson,  was 
osceiidctl  to  its  sources,  near  the  44th  degree  of  latitude,  where  the 
iiavi|;ution  of  the  Missouri  ends,  ut  the  diHtance  of  about  three 
tliousand  miles  from  its  entrance  into  the  Mississippi. 

Wliilst  the  canoes  were  ascending  the  Jenerson  River,  Captains 
Lewis  and  Clarke,  with  some  n(  their  men,  proceeded  through  the 
mountains,  and  soon  found  streamn  flowing  towards  the  west,  one 
of  which  was  traced  in  that  direction,  by  Clarke,  for  seventy  miles; 
tlicy  also  met  several  parties  of  Indians  belonging  to  a  nation 
called  Shoahonee,  from  whose  (iccou)its  they  were  convinced  that 
those  streams  were  the  head-waters  of  the  Columbia.  Having  re- 
ceived this  satisfactory  information,  the  commanders  rejoined  their 
men  at  the  head  of  the  JeHcr»Hin  ;  and  preparations  were  conunciiced 
for  pursuing  the  journey  by  land.  For  this  purpose,  the  canoes 
and  a  portion  of  tho  goods  were  concealed  in  caches,  or  covered 
pits,  and  a  number  of  horses,  with  some  guides,  being  procured 
from  the  Shoshonees,  the  whole  body  of  the  Americans,  on  the  30th 
of  August,  entered  on  the  passage  through  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Up  to  this  period,  the  diHiculties  of  the  journey  had  been  cotn- 
paratively  light,  and  the  privations  few.  But,  during  the  three 
weeks  which  the  Americans  spent  in  passing  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
they  underwent,  as  Clarke  says,  "every  sutlering  which  hunger, 
c(»M,  and  fatigue,  could  impose."  The  mountains  were  high,  and 
the  passes  through  them  rugged,  and,  in  many  places,  covered  with 
snow ;  and  their  food  consisted  of  berries,  dried  fish,  and  the  meat 
of  dogs  or  horses,  of  all  which  the  supplies  were  scanty  and  preca- 
rious. They  crossed  many  streams,  some  of  them  large,  which 
emptied  into  the  Columbia  ;  but  their  guides  gave  them  no  encour- 
agement to  embark  on  any,  until  they  reached  one  called  the 
Kooskooskee,  in  the  latitude  of  43  degrees  34  minutes,  about  four 
hundred  miles,  by  their  route,  from  the  head  of  navigation  of  the 
Missouri. 

At  this  place,  they  constructed  five  canoes,  and,  leaving  their 
horses  in  charge  of  a  tribt:  of  Indians  of  the  Chopunnish  nation, 
they,  on  the  7th  of  October,  begun  the  descent  of  the  Kooskooskee. 
Three  days  afterwards,  they  entered  the  principal  southern  branch 


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286 


DESCENT    OF    THE    COLUMBIA. 


[1805. 


of  the  Columbia,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Lewis ;  and,  in  seven 
days  more,  they  reached  the  point  of  its  confluence  with  the  larger 
northern  branch,  called  by  them  the  Clarke.  They  were  then  fairly 
launched  on  the  Great  River  of  the  West,  and  passing  down  it 
through  many  dangerous  rapids,  they,  on  the  31st,  arrived  at  the 
Falls  of  the  Columbia,  where  it  rushes  through  the  lofty  chain  of 
mountains  nearest  the  Pacific.  Some  of  their  canoes  descended 
these  falls  in  safety ;  the  others  and  the  goods  were  carried  around 
by  land,  and  replaced  in  the  water  at  the  foot  of  the  cataract.  At 
a  short  distance  below,  the  tides  of  the  Pacific  were  observed ;  and, 
on  the  15th  of  November,  the  whole  party  landed  on  Cape  Disap- 
pointment, at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  about  six  hundred  miles 
from  the  place  at  which  they  had  embarked  on  its  waters,  and  more 
than  four  thousand,  by  their  route,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri. 

The  winter,  or  rather  the  rainy  season,  having  commenced  when 
the  party  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  it  became  necessary 
for  them  to  remain  there  until  the  following  spring.  They  accord- 
ingly prepared  a  habitation  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  eleven 
miles  in  a  straight  line  from  Cape  Disappointment,  from  which  they 
were,  however,  soon  driven  by  the  floods ;  they  then  found  a  suit- 
able spot  on  the  south  side,  a  little  higher  up,  where  they  formed 
their  dwelling,  called  by  them  Fort  Clatsop,  and  remained  until 
the  middle  of  March,  1806.  During  this  period,  the  cold  was  by 
no  means  severe,  less  so,  indeed,  than  on  the  Atlantic  shore  of  the 
continent  ten  degrees  farther  south ;  but  the  rains  were  incessant 
and  violent,  and  the  river  being  at  the  same  time  generally  too 
much  agitated  by  the  winds  and  the  waves  from  the  ocean  for  the 
Americans  to  venture  on  it  in  their  canoes,  they  were  often  unable 
to  obtain  provisions,  either  by  hunting  or  fishing.  The  Clatsop 
Indians  who  occupy  the  south  side  of  the  Columbia,  at  its  mouth, 
and  the  ChinnooTcs,  on  the  opposite  shore,  conducted  themselves 
peaceably ;  but  their  prices  for  every  thing  which  they  offered  for 
sale  were  so  high,  that  no  trade  could  be  carried  on  with  them. 
The  party  were,  in  consequence  of  the  rains,  seldom  able  to  quit 
their  encampment ;  and  the  only  excursion  of  any  length  made  by 
them  during  the  winter,  was  as  far  as  tlie  promontory  overhanging 
the  Pacific,  thirty  miles  south  of  the  Columbia,  which  they  called 
darkens  Point  of  View,  near  the  Cape  Lookout  of  Meares. 

On  the  23d  of  March,  1806,  the  Americans  commenced  the 
ascent  of  the  Columbia  in  canoes,  on  their  return  to  the  United 
States.     Proceeding  slowly  up  the  river,  they  carefully  examined 


1806.] 


RETURN  OF  LEWIS  AND  CLARKE. 


287 


its  shores,  and  discovered  a  large  stream,  called  by  the  natives  the 
Cowelitz,  flowing  into  it  from  the  north,  at  the  distance  of  sixty 
miles  from  the  ocean.  Thirty  miles  higher  up,  they  found  another 
and  much  larger  stream,  joining  the  Columbia  on  the  south  side, 
the  Indian  name  of  which  was  supposed  to  be  Mulionomah ;  it  is 
now,  however,  universally  known  as  the  Willamet,  and  on  its  banks 
are  situated  the  most  flourishing  settlements  as  yet  formed  by  citi- 
zens of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

In  the  middle  of  April,  the  exploring  party  reached  the  foot  of 
the  great  rapids,  below  the  Falls  of  the  Columbia,  where  they  aban- 
doned their  canoes,  and  began  their  journey  by  land,  on  horses 
purchased  from  the  Indians.  In  this  way,  they  traversed  the  gap  or 
defile  in  the  mountains  through  which  the  river  pours  its  floods, 
and  then,  pursuing  their  course  over  the  elevated  plains  east  of  that 
ridge,  they  arrived,  on  the  8th  of  May,  at  the  point  on  the  Koos- 
kooskee  River,  where  they  had  left  their  horses,  and  first  embarked 
on  the  waters  of  the  Columbia,  in  the  preceding  year.  From  this 
place,  they  continued  on  horseback  due  eastward,  through  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  to  the  Clarke  River,  which  flows  for  some  dis- 
tance in  a  northerly  direction  from  its  sources,  before  turning 
southward  to  join  the  other  branches  of  the  Columbia ;  and  there 
it  was  agreed  that  the  chiefs  of  the  expedition  should  separate,  to 
meet  again  at  the  confluence  of  the  Yellowstone  with  the  Missouri. 

The  separation  took  place  on  the  3d  of  July,  near  the  point  at 
which  the  Clarke  River  is  crossed  by  the  47th  parallel  of  latitude, 
due  west  of  the  Falls  of  the  Missouri.  Captain  Lewis  and  his 
party  proceeded  some  distance  northward,  down  the  Clarke,  and 
then,  quitting  it,  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  head-waters  of 
Maria  River,  which  empties  into  the  Missouri  just  below  the  falls. 
There  they  met  a  band  of  Indians  belonging  to  the  numerous  and 
daring  race  called  the  Black-foot,  who  infest  the  plains  at  the  base 
of  the  mountains,  and  are  ever  at  war  with  all  other  tribes  ;  these 
savages  attempted  to  seize  the  rifles  of  the  Americans,  and  Lewis 
was  obliged  to  kill  one  of  them  before  they  desisted.  The  party 
then  hastened  to  the  Missouri,  which  they  reached  at  the  falls,  and 
thence  floated  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone. 

Meanwhile,  the  others,  under  Clarke,  rode  southward  up  the 
valley  of  the  Clarke  River,  to  its  sources ;  and,  after  exploring 
several  passes  in  the  mountains  between  that  point  and  the  head- 
waters of  the  Yellowstone,  they  embarked  in  canoes  on  the  latter 


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288 


IMPORTANCE    OF    THE    DISCOVERIES. 


[1806. 


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Stream,  and  descended  it  to  the  Missouri,  where  they  joined  Lewis 
and  his  men  on  the  12th  of  August. 

From  the  point  of  confluence  of  the  two  rivers,  the  whole  body 
moved  down  the  Missouri ;  and,  on  the  23d  of  September,  1806, 
they  arrived  in  safety  at  St.  Louis,  having  travelled,  in  the  course 
of  their  expedition,  more  than  nine  thousand  miles. 

The  preceding  sketch  of  the  long  and  diflicult  expedition  of 
^Lewis  and  Clarke  will  serve,  to  show  the  general  course  of  their 
routes  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Pacific.  As  to  the  priority 
and  extent  of  their  geographical  discoveries,  a  few  words  will 
suffice.  The  Missouri  had  been  ascended,  by  the  French  and 
Spanish  traders,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  long  before 
Lewis  and  Clarke  embarked  on  it ;  but  ample  proofs  are  aflforded, 
by  the  maps  drawn  prior  to  their  expedition,  that  no  information 
even  approximating  to  correctness  had  been  obtained  respecting  the 
river  and  the  countries  in  its  vicinity.  With  regard  to  the  territory 
between  the  great  Falls  of  the  Missouri  and  those  of  the  Columbia, 
and  the  branches  of  either  river  joining  it  above  its  falls,  we  have 
no  accounts  whatsoever  earlier  than  those  derived  from  the  journals 
of  the  American  exploring  party.  The  Tacoutchee-Tessee,  navi- 
gated by  Mackenzie  m  1793,  and  supposed  by  him  to  be  a  branch 
of  the  Columbia,  was  afterwards  discovered  to  be  a  different  stream, 
now  called  Froser^s  River,  emptying  into  the  Strait  of  Fuca ;  and 
no  evidence  has  been  adduced  of  the  passage  of  any  white  person 
through  the  country  between  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific, 
north  of  California,  from  the  time  of  Mackenzie's  journey  to  that 
of  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clarke.* 

Politically,  the  expedition  was  an  announcement  to  the  world  of 
the  intention  of  the  American  government  to  occupy  and  settle  the 
countries  explored,  to  which  certainly  no  other  nation  except  Spain 
could  advance  so  strong  a  claim  on  the  grounds  of  discovery  or  of 
contiguity ;  and  the  government  and  people  of  the  United  States 
thus  virtually  incurred  the  obligation  to  prosecute  and  carry  into 


•  The  journal  of  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clarke  was  not  published  until  1814, 
when  it  appeared  nearly  in  the  same  state  in  which  it  came  from  the  hands  of  Lewis, 
shortly  before  the  melancholy  termination  of  his  existence.  It  affords  abundant  proofs 
of  the  powers  of  observation  possessed  by  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  enterprise; 
and  the  mass  of  facts,  geographically,  commercially,  and  politically  important,  which 
it  contains,  causes  it  still  to  be  regarded  as  the  principal  source  of  information  respect- 
ing the  geography,  the  natural  history,  and  the  aboriginal  inhabitants,  of  the  portions 
of  America  traversed  by  the  Missouri  and  the  Columbia. 


1806.] 


PIKE  S    EXPEDITION. 


289 


fulfilment  the  great  ends  for  whicli  the  labors  of  Lewis  and  Clarke 
were  the  first  preparatory  measure's. 

During  the  absence  of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  other  persons  were 
engaged,  under  the  orders  of  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
in  exploring  dififerent  parts  of  the  interior  of  Louisiana.  Lieutenant 
Pike  ascended  the  Mississippi  to  its  head-waters,  near  the  48lh 
degree  of  latitude,  where  he  obtained  much  useful  information 
respecting  the  course  of  that  stream,  and  the  numbers,  characters, 
and  dispositions,  of  the  Indians  in  its  vicinity,  as  well  as  concerning 
the  trade  and  establishments  of  the  North- West  Company  in  that 
quarter.  Having  completed  this  expedition.  Pike,  in  1806,  under- 
took another,  in  the  course  of  which  he  travelled  south-westward 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Arkan- 
sas, the  Red  River,  and  the  Rio  Bravo  del  Norte :  on  the  latter 
river,  he  and  his  party  were  made  prisoners  by  the  Spaniards  of 
Santa  Fe,  who  carried  them  southward  as  far  as  the  city  of  Chi- 
huahua, and  thence,  through  Texas,  to  the  United  States.  The 
Red  and  Washita  Rivers  were  at  the  same  time  explored,  to  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  Mississippi,  by  Messrs.  Dunbar,  Hunter, 
and  Sibley,  whose  journals,  as  well  as  those  of  Pike,  subsequently 
published,  contain  many  interesting  descriptions  of  those  parts  of 
America. 

Thus,  within  three  or  four  years  after  Louisiana  came  into  the 

possession  of  the  United  States,  it  ceased  to  be  an  unknown  region, 

and  the  principal  features  of  the  territory  drained  by  the  Columbia 

were  displayed. 

37 


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290 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


1806  TO  1815. 


■:l       ! 


First  Establisliments  of  tlie  North-West  Company  in  the  Countries  north  of  the 
Columbia  —  Pacific  Fur  Company  formed  at  New  York  —  Plan  of  its  Founder  — 
First  Expedition  from  New  York  in  tiio  Toaquin  —  Foundation  of  Astoria  near  the 
Mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  —  Destruction  of  the  Tonquin  by  the  Savages  — 
March  of  the  Party  under  Hunt  and  Crooks  across  the  Continent  —  Arrival  of  the 
Beaver  in  the  Columbia  —  War  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  fatal 
to  the  Enterprise  —  Establishments  of  the  Pacific  Company  sold  to  the  North- 
West  Company  —  Astoria  taken  by  the  British  —  Dissolution  of  the  Pacific 
Company. 


:4- 


'K 


!.! 


The  expeditions  of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  and  Pike,  did  not  fail  to 
attract  the  attention,  and  to  excite  the  jealousy,  of  the  British 
government  and  trading  companies.  Pike  had  restrained  the  incur- 
sions of  the  North- West  Company's  people  into  the  territories  of 
the  Upper  Mississippi,  and  had  lessened  their  influence  over  the 
Indians  inhabiting  those  regions.  From  the  moment  when  Lewis 
and  Clarke  appeared  on  the  Missouri,  their  movements  were 
watched  by  the  agents  of  the  British  Association  ;  and,  so  soon 
as  it  was  ascertained  that  they  were  ordered  to  explore  the  Colum- 
bia, preparations  were  made  to  anticipate  the  Americans  in  the 
settlement  of  that  portion  of  the  continent,  for  which  the  expedition 
of  those  officers  was  evidently  intended  to  open  the  way.  A  party 
of  the  North- West  Company's  men  was  accordingly  despatched,  in 
1805,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Laroque,  to  establish  posts  and 
occupy  territories  on  the  Columbia ;  but  this  party  proceeded  no 
farther  than  the  Mandan  villages  on  the  Missouri.  In  the  f., [lowing 
year,  1806,  another  party  was  despatched  from  Fort  Chipewyan, 
under  Mr.  Simon  Fraser,  who  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  near 
the  passage  of  the  Peace  River,  and  formed  a  trading  establishment 
on  a  small  lake,  now  called  Froser's  Lake,  situated  in  the  54th 
degree  of  latitude.  This  was  the  first  settlement  or  post  of  any  hnd 
made  hy  British  subjects  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Other  posts 
were  subsequently  formed  in  the  same  country,  which,  in  1808, 
received  from  the  traders  the  name  of  Neio  Caledonia ;  but  it  does 


:  V,. 


1806.] 


FIRST   BRITISH    POSTS    IN    NEW    CALEDONIA. 


291 


not  appear,  from  any  evidence  as  yet  adduced,  that  any  part  of  the 
waters  of  the  Columbia,  or  of  the  country  through  which  they  flow, 
was  seen  by  persons  in  the  service  of  the  North- West  Company 
until  1811.* 

In  the  mean  time,  several  establishments  had  been  formed  by 
citizens  of  the  United  States  on  the  Columbia  and  its  branches. 

Before  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States,  the  trade 
of  the  Missouri  and  the  adjacent  countries  inhabited  by  the  Indians, 
had  been  granted  by  the  Spanish  government  to  Manuel  Lisa,  a 
merchant  of  St.  Louis,  who  continued  to  conduct  it  almos'  exclu- 
sively until  1806.  After  the  return  of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  other 
individuals  engaged  in  the  business,  the  competition  between  whom 
occasioned  many  and  serious  disputes ;  until  at  length,  in  1808,  an 
association,  called  the  Missouri  Fur  Company,  was  formed  among 

*  Many  interesting  details  respecting  the  proceedings  of  the  North- West  Com- 
pany, and  the  geography  of  the  parts  of  America  in  which  its  establishments  ai'e 
situated,  may  be  found  in  the  journal  of  D.  W.  Harmon,  a  native  of  Vermont,  who 
was  a  partner  in  that  company,  and  the  superintendent  of  all  its  utfairs  beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountains  for  several  years.  This  journal  was  published  at  Andover,  in 
Massachusetts,  in  181!),  but  is  now  nearly  out  of  print:  a  review  of  it,  containing 
many  curious  extracts,  may  be  seen  in  the  London  Quarterly  Review  for  Janu- 
ary, 1822. 

With  regard  to  the  dates  of  the  earliest  establishments  of  the  North- West 
Company  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the  following  extracts  from  Harmon's 
journal  may  be  considered  as  decisive  evidence :  — 

'■'■  Sattirdaij,  A'ovember  24tlt,  1804.  —  Some  people  have  just  arrived  from  Montagne 
la  Basse,  with  a  letter  from  Mr.  Chaboillez,  who  informs  me  that  two  captains,  Clarke 
and  Lewis,  with  one  hundred  and  eighty  sf)ldiers,  iiave  arrived  at  the  Mandan  village, 
on  tiio  Missouri  River,  which  place  is  situated  about  three  days'  distance  from  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Chaboillez.  They  have  invited  Mr.  Chaboillez  to  visit  them.  It  is 
said  that,  on  their  arrival,  they  hoisted  the  American  flag,  and  informed  the  natives 
that  their  object  was  not  to  trade,  but  merely  to  explore  the  country,  and  that,  as  soon 
as  the  navigation  shall  open,  they  design  to  continue  their  route  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  thence  descend  to  the  Fiicific  Ocean. 

^' H'cdHcsdnij,  .'ipril  liUh,  1^0.").  —  Whili-  at  Montagne  la  Basse,  Mr.  Chaboillez  in- 
duced me  to  consent  to  undertake  a  long  and  arduous  tour  of  discovery.  I  am  to  leave 
that  place  about  the  beginning  of  June,  accom]mnied  by  six  or  seven  Canadians,  and 
two  or  three  Indians.  The  first  place  at  which  we  shall  stop  will  bo  the  Mandan 
village,  on  the  Missouri  Rivt^r ;  thence  we  shall  steer  our  course  towards  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  accompanied  by  a  number  of  the  Mandan  Indians,  who  proceed  in  that 
direction,  every  spring,  to  meet  and  trade  with  another  tribe  of  Indians,  who  reside 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  [This  journey  I  never  undertook :  a 
Mr.  La  Roque  attempted  to  make  this  tour,  but  went  no  farther  than  the  Mandan 
village.]  " 

At  page  281,  Harmon  says,  "  The  part  of  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, with  which  I  am  acquainted,  has,  ever  since  the  North- West  Company  first 
made  an  establishment  there,  which  was  in  1806,  gone  by  the  name  of  JVew  Cale- 
donia," &c.  And  in  many  places  he  speaks  of  Mr.  Simon  Fraser  as  having  led  the 
first  company  of  traders  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,'  in  1806. 


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292 


FIRST    TRADINU    POSTS    ON    TlIK    COLUMBIA. 


[1810. 


the  principal  traders  in  that  part  of  America,  by  which  posts  were 
estabhshcd  on  the  Upper  Mississippi,  the  Missouri,  and  even  beyond 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  trading  post  founded  by  Mr.  Henry, 
one  of  the  agents  of  the  Missouri  Company,  on  a  branch  of  the  Lewis 
River,  the  great  southern  arm  of  tiie  Columbia,  appears  to  have  been 
the  earliest  establishment  of  any  kind  made  by  people  of  a  civilized 
nation  in  the  territory  drained  by  the  latter  stream  ;  the  enmity  of 
the  savages  in  its  vicinity,  and  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  provisions, 
however,  obliged  Mr.  Henry  to  abandon  it  in  1810. 

In  that  year,  an  attempt  was  made  by  Captain  Smith,  the  com- 
mander of  the  ship  Albatross,  from  Boston,  to  found  a  post  for  trade 
with  the  Indians  at  a  place  called  Oak  Point,  on  the  south  bank  of 
the  Columbia,  about  forty  miles  from  its  mouth.  For  this  purpose  a 
house  was  built  and  a  garden  was  laid  out  and  planted  there ;  but 
the  site  was  badly  chosen  in  all  respects,  and  the  scheme  was  aban- 
doned before  the  close  of  the  year. 

In  the  same  year,  1810,  an  association  was  formed  at  New  York, 
for  the  prosecution  of  the  fur  trade  in  the  central  and  north-western 
parts  of  the  continent,  in  connection  with  the  China  trade,  of  which 
a  particular  account  will  be  presented,  as  the  transactions  attend 
ing  the  enterprise  led  to  important  political  results. 

This  association  was  called  the  Pacific  Fur  Company.*  At  its 
head  was  John  Jacob  Astor,  a  German  merchant  of  New  York, 
who  had  been  for  many  years  extensively  engaged  in  the  commerce 
of  the  Pacific  and  China,  and  also  in  the  trade  with  the  Indian  coun- 
tries in  the  centre  of  the  American  continent,  and,  by  his  prudence 
and  skill,  had  thus  accumulated  an  immense  fortune,  ere  he  passed 
the  meridian  of  life.  He  devised  the  scheme ;  he  advanced  the 
capital  requisite  for  carrying  it  into  execution,  and  he  directed  all 

*  The  following  account  of  tiio  procoodings  of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company  is  derived 
chiefly  from  —  Adventures  on  the  Columbia  River,  &c.,  by  Ross  Cox.  I^ondon,  1831. 
—  Relation  d'un  Voyage  ii  la  Cote  Nord-Ouest,  de  1' Amerique  Septentrionale,  dans  les 
Annoes  ]810-1.1,  par  Gabriel  Franchcre.  Montreal,  Itf'JO.  [Franchere  went  out 
with  the  first  parly  in  the  Tonquin ;  Co.v  went  out  in  the  Beaver,  and  they  bolii 
returned  to  Canada  by  way  of  the  lakes.]  —  Astoria,  or  Anecdotes  of  an  Enterprise 
beyond  the  Rocky  MounttVins,  by  Washington  Irving,  Philadelphia,  lH3fi;  the  latter 
author  gives  the  most  complete  account  of  the  circumstances,  particularly  of  the 
adventures  of  the  parties  under  Hunt,  Crooks,  and  Stuart,  derived  from  their  state- 
ments and  the  papers  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Astor,  to  which  he  had  access.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  authorities,  several  letters  and  papers,  addressed  by  Mr.  Astor  to  the  execu- 
tive of  the  United  States,  have  been  examined,  and  some  communications  have  been 
personally  received  from  that  gentleman.  One  of  his  letters,  containing  a  summary 
of  the  circumstances  connected  with  his  enterprise,  will  be  found  among  tlie  Proofs 
and  Illustrations,  at  the  end  of  thi.-s  volume,  under  the  letter  G. 


4 


lA.        [ibio. 

lich  posts  Mere 
id  even  beyond 
by  Mr.  Henry, 
icli  of  the  Lewis 
irs  to  have  been 
le  of  a  civilized 
;  the  enmity  of 
ning  provisions, 

3rnith,  the  com- 
a  post  for  trade 
I  south  bank  of 
ir  this  purpose  a 
ited  there;  but 
l^icme  M  as  aban- 

d  at  New  York, 
d  north-western 
I  trade,  of  which 
sactions  attend 
ts. 

npany.*     At  its 

of  New  York, 

the  commerce 

le  Indian  coun- 

by  his  prudence 

ere  he  passed 

advanced  the 

he  directed  all 

Company  is  derived 
Jox.  London,  18",51. 
itontrionalo,  dans  les 
'ranchern  went  out 
ver,  and  they  botii 
:es  of  an  Enterprise 
lia,  1.S36;  the  latter 

particularly  of  the 
ed  from  their  state- 
id  access.     In  addi- 

Astor  to  the  exeou- 
nications  have  been 
titaining  a  summary 
d  among  the  Proofs 


1810.]    AST0R*S  PLANS  FOR  MONOPOLIZING  THE  CHINA  TRADE.         293 

the  operations.  His  first  objects  were  to  concentrate  in  the  hands 
of  the  company  the  fur  trade  of  every  part  of  the  unsettled  territo- 
ries of  America  claimed  by  the  United  States,  and  also  the  supply 
of  the  Russian  establishments  on  the  North  Pacific,  which  was  to  be 
conducted  agreeably  to  arrangements  made  with  the  Russian  Amer- 
ican Company,  similar  to  those  proposed  by  the  government  of  St. 
Petersburg  to  the  cabinet  at  Wasliington,  as  already  mentioned  ;  and 
by  the  attainment  of  these  first  objects,  he  expected  to  be  able  to  con- 
trol, if  not  exclusively  to  possess,  the  whole  commerce  between  the 
ports  of  China  and  those  of  America,  and  of  a  large  portion  of  Europe. 

For  these  purposes,  posts  were  to  be  established  on  the  Missouri, 
the  Columbia,  and  the  coasts  of  the  Pacific  contiguous  l.o  the  latter 
river,  at  which  places  the  furs  were  to  be  collected  by  trade  with 
the  Indians,  or  by  hunters  in  the  employ  of  the  company.  The 
posts  were  to  be  supplied  with  the  merchandise  required,  either  by 
way  of  the  Missouri,  or  by  ships  despatched  from  the  ports  of  the 
United  States  to  the  North  Pacific  ;  and  the  furs  collected  were  to  be 
carried  either  down  the  Missouri  to  the  Atlantic  ports  of  the  Union, 
or  westward  to  the  establishments  of  the  company  on  the  Pacific. 
The  merchandise  sent  to  the  Pacific  would  be  discharged,  in  the  first 
instance,  at  a  principal  factory,  to  be  founded  at  some  point  most 
convenient  for  distributing  the  articles  among  the  interior  posts, 
and  for  receiving  the  furs  from  those  places ;  and  the  vessels 
would  then  take  in  cargoes  of  furs,  which  they  would  transport 
to  Canton.  Vessels  would  also  be  sent,  either  directly  from  the 
United  States,  or  from  the  principal  factory  on  the  Pacific,  to  the 
Russian  American  establislnnents,  with  provisions  and  other  articles, 
for  which  furs  were  to  be  received  in  payment ;  and  from  Canton 
these  vessels  would  bring  to  Europe  or  America  teas,  silks,  and  other 
Chinese  goods,  procured  in  exchange  for  their  furs.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  add,  that  ail  these  movements  were  to  be  conducted 
with  order  and  regularity,  and  at  stated  periods,  so  as  to  prevent  loss 
of  time  and  labor,  or  injury  to  the  various  articles  transported. 

The  number  of  shares  in  the  company  was  to  be  one  hundred : 
of  these  half  were  retained  by  Mr.  Astor,  who  was  to  advance  the 
funds  necessary  for  the  first  operations,  and  to  manage  the  con- 
cerns at  New  York ;  the  remaining  shares  being  divided  among  the 
other  partners,  who  were  to  conduct  the  business  in  the  western 
territories,  on  the  Pacific,  and  at  Canton.  The  association,  if 
prosperous,  was  to  continue  twenty  years,  after  which  it  might  be 
prolonged ;  but  it  might  be  abandoned  by  any  of  the  partners,  or 


(^  '' 


^|! 


!'• 


1  f     ; 


VM 


i;,  ■   1 


\  i 

1 

'-     r  '• 
1  , 

tV.V 

i4 


,1  1 


■Ill  ' 

Hi 

W-  ' 

1; 

iifi|iHt 

l 

h?''  1 

ir 

III 

pi 

;              1 

1                   ''' 
■  ' 

294 


PACIFIC    FUR    COMPANY  S  OPERATIONS. 


:3"!-> 


[1810. 


dissolved,  within  the  first  five  years,  Mr.  Astor  bearing  all  the 
losses  incurred  during  that  period. 

This  was  certainly  an  extensive  and  complicated  scheme ;  but  it 
appeared,  at  the  time  when  it  was  devised,  to  be  perfectly  practicable. 
The  territories  in  which  the  new  establishments  were  to  be  formed, 
had  never  been  occupied :  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  Russians 
would  gladly  agree  to  the  proposed  arrangements  for  the  trade  with 
their  factories  ;  the  demand  for  furs  at  Canton  was  regular,  and  suf- 
ficiently great  to  insure  the  superiority,  in  that  market,  to  those  who 
could  control  the  supply ;  and  the  Americans  would  possess,  in 
China  and  on  the  Pacific,  a  decided  advantage  over  the  British, 
whose  flag  was  then  rarely  seen  in  the  Pacific,  in  consequence  of 
the  monopoly  enjoyed  by  the  East  India  Company.  Moreover,  there 
was  then  no  prospect  of  a  material  change  in  the  political  positions 
of  the  principal  nations  of  the  world. 

The  only  party  from  which  the  Pacific  Company  could  apprehend 
any  immediate  and  serious  difliculties,  was  the  North- West  Company 
of  Montreal.  The  resources  of  that  body  were  in  every  respect 
inferior  to  Mr.  Aster's ;  but,  in  order  to  prevent  rivalry,  he  communi- 
cated his  intentions  confidentially  to  its  directors,  and  oftered  them 
an  interest  to  the  extent  of  one  third  in  his  enterprise :  they,  how- 
ever, rejected  his  proposal,  and  took  measures,  as  will  be  shown 
hereafter,  to  forestall  him.  Was  Mr.  Astor  —  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  — justifiable  in  thus  offering  to  an  association  of  British  sub- 
jects, noted  for  its  enmity  to  his  adopted  country,  a  share  of  the  ad- 
vantages to  be  obtained  under  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  from  ter- 
ritories exclusively  belonging  to  the  United  States,  or  of  which  the 
exclusive  possession  by  the  United  States  was  evidently  essential  to 
the  welfare  and  advancement  of  the  republic  ? 

Having  matured  his  scheme,  Mr.  Astor  engaged  as  partners, 
clerks,  and  voyageurs,  a  number  of  Scotchmen  and  'Canadians,  who 
had  been  in  the  service  of  the  North- West  Company,  and  afterwards 
a  number  rather  greater,  of  other  persons,  principally  natives  of  the 
United  States.  The  partners  first  admitted  were  Alexander  Mackay, 
who  had  accompanied  Mackenzie  in  his  expedition  to  the  Pacific  in 
1793,  Duncan  Macdougal,  and  Donald  Mackenzie,  all  Scotchmen, 
formerly  belonging  to  the  North- West  Company :  these  persons 
signed  the  constitution  or  articles  of  agreement  of  the  Pacific  Com- 
pany, with  Mr.  Astor,  on  the  23d  of  June,  1810;  having,  however, 
previously  communicated  the  whole  plan  of  the  enterprise  to  Mr. 
Jackson,  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  Great  Britain  in  the  United 


[1810. 
bearing  all  the 

scheme ;  but  it 
Rctly  practicable, 
re  to  be  formed, 
that  the  Russians 
3r  the  trade  with 
regular,  and  suf> 
let,  to  those  who 
ould  possess,  in 
over  the  British, 
consequence  of 
Moreover,  there 
political  positions 


ged  as  partners, 
'Janadians,  who 
,  and  afterwards 

lily  natives  of  the 
jxander  Mackay, 
to  the  Pacific  in 
,  all  Scotchmen, 

y :  these  persons 
the  Pacific  Corn- 
having,  however, 

enterprise  to  Mr. 

ain  in  the  United 


1810.] 


PARTNERS  IN  THE  PACIFIC  COMPANY. 


295 


States,  who  quieted  all  their  scruples  as  to  engaging  in  it,  uy  assur- 
ing them  that,  "  in  case  of  a  war  between  the  two  nations,  they  would 
be  respected  as  British  subjects  and  merchants."  The  partners  sub- 
sequently admitted  were  David  and  Robert  Stuart,  and  Ramsay 
Crooks,  Scotchmen,  who  had  also  been  in  the  service  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  and  Wilson  Price  Hunt,  John  Clarke,  and  Robert 
Maclellan,  citi/.cns  of  the  United  States.  The  majority  of  the  clerks 
were  Americans ;  among  the  others  were  Ross  Cox,  an  Englishman, 
and  Gabriel  Franchere,  a  Canadian,  each  of  whom  has  written  an 
interesting  history  of  the  enterprise.  The  voi/ageurs  were  nearly  all 
I'rom  Canada.  Mr.  Hunt,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  was  chosen  as 
cliief  agent  of  the  company,  to  superintend  all  its  concerns  on  the 
western  side  of  America  for  five  years. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that,  although  the  chief  direction  of  the  con- 
cerns of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company,  in  New  York  and  on  the  western 
side  of  the  continent,  were  at  first  intrusted  to  American  citizens, 
yet  the  majority  not  only  of  the  inferior  servants,  but  also  of  the 
partners,  were  British  subjects,  nearly  all  of  wliom  had  been  in  the 
service  of  a  rival  British  association. 

The  preparations  for  commencing  the  enterprise  having  been 
completed,  four  of  the  partners,  Messrs.  Mackay,  Macdougal,  David 
Stuart,  and  Robert  Stuart,  with  eleven  clerks,  thirteen  Canadian 
mjageurs,  and  five  mechanics,  all  British  subjects,  took  their 
departure  from  New  York  for  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  in 
September,  1810,  in  the  ship  Tonquin,  commanded  by  Jonathan 
Thome.  In  Jarmary  following,  the  second  detachment,  conducted 
l)y  Mr.  Hunt,  the  chief  agent,  and  Messrs.  Maclellan,  Mackenzie, 
and  Crooks,  set  out  for  the  same  point,  by  way  of  the  Missouri  River ; 
and  in  October,  1811,  the  ship  Beaver,  under  Captain  Sowles,  car- 
ried out  from  New  York,  to  the  North  Pacific,  Mr.  Clarke,  with  six 
clerks  and  a  number  of  other  persons. 

Mr.  Astor  had  already,  in  1809,  despatched  the  ship  Enterprise, 
under  Captain  Ebbets,  an  intelligent  and  experienced  seaman  and 
trader,  to  make  observations  iit  various  places  on  the  north-west 
coasts  of  America,  and  particularly  at  the  Russian  settlements,  and 
to  prepare  the  way  for  the  new  establishments.  He,  also,  in  1811, 
sent  an  agent  to  St.  Petersburg,  by  whose  means  he  concluded  an 
arrangement  with  the  Russian  American  Company,  to  the  effect 
that  his  association  should  have  the  exclusive  privileges,  of  supplying 
the  Russian  establishments  on  the  North  Pacific  with  merchandise, 
receiving  furs  in  payment,   and  of  transporting    to   Canton   such 


if 


M''r 


if! 
ill 


I  ■ 


|:iH 


^llil!    '. 


■■I     i''  . 
''!!i..  i-i 


.1'.  I 
i    !■ 


Wp-^ 


m^   \M 


muWh 


I 


luj,'  t|..    J, 


U,! 


I    • 


1m  U: 


!'!| 


996 


THE    ASTORIA    ENTKRI'HISR    BKOUN. 


(1811. 


Other  furs  as  the  Russians  might  chooHc  to  ship  for  that  port,  on 
their  own  account,  provided  that  the  Americans  should  visit  no 
other  parts  of  the  coast  north  of  a  certain  latitude. 

The  Tonquin  passed  around  Cape  Horn,  and  in  February,  1811 
arrived  at  Owyhee,  where  Macdougal,  who  was  to  superintend  the 
affairs  of  the  company  on  the  Pacific  and  its  coasts  until  the  arrival 
of  Hunt,  endeavored  to  conclude  a  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce 
with  King  Tamahamaha :  but  that  aged  chief,  whom  experience  had 
rendered  distrustful,  refused  to  bind  himself  by  any  contract  with 
the  white  men  ;  and  he  would  only  promise  to  furnish  the  vessels  of 
the  company  with  provisions  on  the  same  terms  with  other  vessels 
—  namely,  on  payment  of  the  value  in  Spanish  dollars.  Having 
obtained  the  necessary  supplies  in  this  way,  and  taken  on  board  a 
dozen  of  the  islanders,  who  were  permitted  by  their  sovereign  to 
engage  in  the  service  of  the  Pacific  Company,  Captain  Thome  sailed 
for  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  where  he  eft'ected  an  entrance  on 
the  24th  of  March,  with  great  danger  and  difficulty,  after  losing 
three  of  his  men,  who  attempted  to  reach  the  shore  in  a  boat. 

The  passengers  immediately  disembarked  on  the  shore  of  Baker's 
Bay,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Columbia,  just  within  Cape  Disappoint- 
ment, where  sheds  were  built  for  their  temporary  accommodation.  A 
few  days  afterwards,  the  partners  set  ofl*  in  search  of  a  place  proper 
for  the  establishment  of  a  factory  ;  and  they  soon  selected  for  that  ol)- 
ject  a  spot  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  distant  about  ten  miles  from 
the  ocean,  which  had  received  from  Broughton,  in  1792,  the  name  of 
Point  George.  To  this  place  the  Tonquin  was  removed  ;  and,  her 
goods  and  materials  being  landed,  preparations  were  commenced  for 
the  erection  of  a  fort  and  other  houses,  and  for  building  a  small 
vessel,  of  which  the  frame  had  been  brought  out  from  New  York.  In 
the  course  of  two  months,  these  works  were  so  far  advanced,  that 
the  assistance  of  the  ship's  crew  was  no  longer  needed  ;  and  Captain 
Tliorne  accordingly  sailed  on  the  5th  of  June  for  the  northern  coasts, 
carrying  with  him  Mr.  Mackay  who  was  to  conduct  the  trade,  and 
to  make  arrangements  with  the  Russians,  Mr.  Lewis  one  of  the 
clerks,  and  an  Indian  who  spoke  English,  to  serve  as  interpreter. 

During  the  ensuing  summer,  much  progress  was  made  in  the 
buildings  for  the  factory,  which,  in  honor  of  the  head  of  the  com- 
pany, was  named  Astoria.  A  large  piece  of  ground  was  cleared 
and  laid  out  as  a  garden,  in  which  various  vegetables  were  planted; 
the  small  vessel  was  finished  and  launched ;  trade  was  carried  on 
with  the  neighboring  Indians,  and  also  with  others  from  the  higher 


1^11.  J 


DAVID    THOMPSO       VISITS    ASTORIA. 


297 


parts  n'  the  river,  who  gave  "ki  •>.  ,h,  Bfld  j^ame,  in  exchange  for 
manufti'  tured  articles ;  and  ever)  Uiwig,  in  fine,  seemed  to  promise 
success  lo  the  eii,   rprise. 

While  the  A*«)rians  wf  thus  engaged,  they  were  unexpectedly 
visited,  on  the  1..  h  of  July  by  a  party  of  the  North-West  Company's 
men,  under  the  flirection  of  Mr.  David  Thompson,  the  surveyor  or 
astronomer  of  that  body.  These  men  had  been  despatched  fronj 
Canada  in  the  preceding  year,  with  the  object  of  forestalling  the 
Americans  in  the  occupation  of  the  mouth  of  tuc  Columbia,  which 
they  hoped  to  effect  before  the  end  of  that  season :  but  they  were 
so  long  delayed  in  seeking  a  passage  through  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
that  they  were  obliged  to  winter  in  that  ridge,  near  the  northernmost 
sources  of  the  Columbia,  under  the  52d  parallel  of  latitude  ;  whence 
they  hastened  down  the  river  in  the  spring  of  1811,  building  huts, 
and  erecting  flags  at  various  places,  by  way  of  taking  possession  of 
the  country.  They  were  received  at  the  fort  not  as  rivals,  but  as 
friends ;  and  were  treated  with  the  utmost  respect  and  hospitality, 
during  their  stay,  by  their  old  companion,  the  superintendent, 
Macdougal,  who,  moreover,  furnished  them  with  provisions,  and 
even  with  goods,  for  trading  on  their  departure  up  the  river. 

Mr.  Thompson  and  his  followers  in  this  expedition  were,  from 
all  the  accounts  as  yet  made  public,  the  first  white  persons  who 
navigated  the  northern  branch  of  the  Columbia,  or  traversed  any 
part  of  the  country  drained  by  it.  The  British  commissioners,  in  the 
negotiation  with  the  American  plenipotentiary  at  London,  in  1826, 
nevertheless,  attempted  to  place  Mr.  Thompson's  expedition  on 
an  equality,  not  only  as  to  extent  of  discovery,  but  also  as  to  date, 
with  that  of  Lewis  and  Clarke  ;  and  to  represent  the  establishments 
which  he  is  said  to  have  founded  on  his  way  down  the  Columbia  as 
prior  to  those  formed  by  the  Pacific  Company.  In  their  statement 
of  the  claims  of  Great  Britain  to  territories  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, they  say* — "The  United  States  further  pretend  that  their 
claim  to  the  country  in  question  is  strengthened  and  confirmed  by 
the  discovery  of  the  sources  of  the  Columbia,  and  by  the  exploration 
of  its  course  to  the  sea  by  Lewis  and  Clarke,  in  1805-6.  In  reply 
to  this  allegation,  Great  Britain  affirms,  and  can  distinctly  prove, 
that,  if  not  before,  at  least  in  the  same  and  subsequent  years,  her 
North- West  Trading  Company  had,  by  means  of  their  agent,  Mr. 
Thompson,  already  established  their  posts  among  the  Flat-head  and 

*  See  the  British  statement,  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in  the  latter  part 
of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  H. 

:J8 


-♦' 


I.  .1 


!(' 


It 


1  , 


i     : 

.  f    '1 


tm4 


298 


MARCH  or  HUNT,  MACLKLLAN,  AND  CHO0K8. 


11813. 


(i-  ! 


m^'r 


r.    i: 


Kootanie  tribes,  on  the  hcad-walcrs  or  iimiii  branch  of  the  Columbia 
and  were  gradually  cxtoiiding  thoni  down  the  i)rinci|ml  Htrcaiii  of 
that  river ;  thus  giving  to  Great  Britain  in  this  particular,  as  in  tho 
discovery  of  the  mouth  of  tho  river,  a  title  of  parity  at  least,  if  not 
of  priority  of  discovery,  an  opposed  to  the  United  States,  h  was 
from  these  posts  that,  having  heard  of  the  American  establishtiicnt 
forming  in  1811  at  the  mouth  of  the  riv^r,  Mr.  Thompson  hastened 
thither,  descending  tho  riv  r  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  that  estab- 
lishment." The  expression  "  if  not  before,  at  least  in  the  same  and 
following  years,"  used  here,  is  rather  indefinite.  In  order  to  show 
how  it  should  be  understood  conformabl;'  with  truth,  it  will  be 
proper  to  repeat  —  that  Lewis  and  Clarke  lescemled  the  Columbia 
and  reached  its  mouth  before  the  middle  of  November,  1H(),")-^ 
that  the  North-West  Company  made  their  first  establishment  beyond 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  at  some  distance  north  of  any  part  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, in  1806  —  that  American  estoblishments  were  formed  on 
the  Columbia  in  1809, 1810,  and  181 1 — an<l,  finally,  that  Thompson 
did  not  arrive  among  the  Kootanie  and  Flat-head  tribes  until  the 
spring  of  1811,  after  the  foundation  of  Astoria. 

Mr.  Thompson  and  his  people  were  accompanied,  on  their  return, 
by  a  party  from  the  factory,  under  Mr.  David  Stuart,  who  established 
a  post  at  the  confluence  of  a  stream,  called  the  Okinagan,  with  the 
north  branch  of  the  Columbia,  about  six  hundred  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  latter  river,  and  remained  there  during  the  winter. 
The  situation  of  those  left  at  Astoria  was,  in  the  mean  time,  very  un- 
pleasant, and  their  spirits  were  depressed  by  various  circumstances. 
Their  supplies  of  provisions  were  scanty  and  uncertain,  and  nothing? 
was  heard,  for  some  months,  of  the  party  who  were  to  come  over  land 
from  the  United  States ;  the  Tonquin,  which  was  ex[)ected  to  return 
to  the  river  in  September,  did  not  appear,  and  rumors  were  brought 
by  the  Indians  of  the  destruction  of  a  ship,  and  the  massacre  of  her 
crew,  by  the  natives  near  the  Strait  of  Fuca.  Nothing,  however, 
occurred  at  the  factory,  worthy  of  note,  until  the  18th  of  January, 
1812,  when  a  portion  of  the  detachment  sent  across  the  continent 
arrived  there  in  the  most  wretched  condition. 

This  detachment,  consisting  of  about  sixty  men,  under  the  chief 
agent,  Hunt,  and  the  partners,  Crooks,  Mackenzie,  and  Maclellan, 
ascended  the  Missouri  River  in  boats,  from  its  mouth  to  the  country 
of  the  Arickara  Indians,  distant  about  fourteen  hundred  miles  higher ; 
during  which  voyage  they  were  constantly  annoyed  by  their  rivals 
of  the  Missouri  Company  ;  and,  there  quitting  the  river,  they  took  a 


lif.! 

mii  ::.iJ(    ■     tt 

||j§H|iJ 

'M'm,-^M 

1813.]    MARCH    Ul'    HUNT    AND    HIS    PARTY   TO   THK    COLUMBIA.       299 

westward  course  to  tlio  Uocky  Mountains,  which  they  crossed  in 
September,  1811,  near  the  head  of  the  Yellowstono  River.  On 
the  western  side  of  the  ridge,  they  found  a  large  stream,  probably 
the  main  branch  of  the  Lewis,  on  which  they  cmlmrkcd  in  canoes, 
with  the  expectation  of  thus  Hoating  down  to  the  Falls  of  the  Colum- 
bia ;  but  ere  they  had  proceeded  far  in  this  way,  they  encountered 
so  many  dangers  and  obstructions,  from  falls  and  rapids,  that  they 
were  forced  to  abandon  the  stream  and  resume  their  march.  It 
would  be  needless  here  to  attempt  to  describe  the  many  evils  from 
hunger,  thirst,  cold,  and  fatigue,  which  these  men  underwent  during 
their  wanderings  through  that  dreary  wilderness  of  snow-clad  moun- 
tains, in  the  winter  of  181 1-1'2 :  suffice  ll  to  say,  that,  after  several 
of  their  number  had  perished  from  one  or  more  of  these  causes,  the 
others  reached  Astoria  in  separate  parties,  in  the  tirst  months  of 
Idlii,  having  spent  more  than  a  year  in  coming  from  St.  Louis. 
At  the  factory  they  found  shelter,  warmth,  and  rest ;  but  they  had 
httle  food,  until  the  fish  began  to  enter  the  river,  when  they  obtained 
abundant  supplies  of  pilchards,  of  the  most  delicious  flavor. 

On  the  5th  of  May,  1812,  the  ship  Beaver,*  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain Sowles,  arrived  in  the  Columbia,  from  New  York,  bringing 
the  third  detachment  of  jxjrsons  in  the  service  of  the  Pacific  Com- 
pany, under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Clarke,  and  twenty-six  natives  of 


♦ 


■* 


i 


•  Uos8  Cox,  who  arrived  at  Astoria  in  the  Beaver,  in  May,  1812,  givcB  the  follow- 
itiif  account  of  the  establishment  as  it  then  appeared :  — 

"Tiie  spot  selected  for  the  fort  [Astoria]  was  a  handsome  eminence,  called  Point 
Ucorfff,  which  commanded  an  extensive  view  of  the  majestic  Columbia  in  front, 
bnuiidcd  by  the  bold  and  tiiickly-wooded  northern  shore.  On  tiie  right,  about  three 
mili'H  distant,  a  long,  l»ifj:h,  and  rocky  penins.ila,  covered  with  tindier,  called  Tongue 
Point,  extended  a  considerable  distance  into  the  river  from  the  southern  side,  with 
wiiicii  it  was  connected  by  a  narrow  neck  of  land  ;  while,  on  tlie  extreme  left,  Cape 
Disappointment,  with  the  bar  and  its  terrific  chain  of  breakers,  were  distinctly  visible. 
The  l)uiidings  consisted  of  apartments  for  tlie  proprietors  and  clerks,  with  a  capacious 
dining-hall  for  both  ;  intensive  warehouses  for  the  trading  goods  and  furs,  a  provision 
store,  a  trading  shoji,  smith's  forge,  carpenter's  shop,  &c. ;  the  whole  surrounded  by 
stockades,  forming  a  square,  and  reaching  about  fifteen  feet  above  the  ground.  A 
gallery  ran  around  the  stockades,  in  which  loopholes  were  pierced,  sufficiently  large 
fir  musketry  ;  two  strong  bastions,  built  of  logs,  commanded  the  four  sides  of  the 
square  ;  each  bastion  had  two  stories,  in  wliicli  a  number  of  chosen  men  slept  every 
riiij'ht;  a  six  pounder  was  placed  in  tiie  lower  story  of  each,  and  tliey  were  both  well 
provided  with  small  arms.  Immediately  in  front  of  the  fort  was  a  gentle  declivity, 
sloping  down  to  the  river's  side,  which  had  been  turned  into  an  excellent  kitchen 
garden  ;  and,  a  few  hundred  rods  to  the  left,  a  tolerable  wharf  had  been  run  out,  by 
which  bateaux  and  boats  were  enabled,  at  low  water,  to  land  their  cargoes  with- 
out sustaining  any  damage.  An  impenetrable  forest  of  gigantic  pines  rose  in  the 
rear,  and  the  ground  was  covered  with  a  thick  underwood  of  brier  and  whortleberry, 
■ntermingled  with  fern  and  honeysuckle." 


( ■ . 


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m 


1''     ii. 


ii'i 


{ft  '"'I    II       ; 


a 


300 


DESTRUCTION    OF    THE    TON^UIN    BY    SAVAGES. 


[1812. 


the  Sandwich  Islands,  who  were  engaged  as  seamen  or  laborers. 
The  Beaver,  moreover,  brought  from  Owyhee  a  letter  which  had 
been  left  there  by  Captain  Ebbets,  of  the  ship  Enterprise,  contain- 
ing positive  information  of  the  destruction  of  the  Tonquin  and  her 
crew  by  the  savages  on  the  coast  near  the  Strait  of  Fuca;  the 
particulars  of  this  melancholy  affair  were  not,  however,  learned 
until  August  of  the  following  year,  when  they  were  communicated 
at  Astoria  by  the  Indian  who  had  gone  in  the  Tonquin  as  inter- 
preter, and  was  the  only  survivor  of  those  on  board  the  ill-fated  ship. 

According  to  this  interpreter's  account,  the  Tonquin,  after  quit- 
ting the  river,  sailed  northward  along  the  coast  of  the  continent, 
and  anchored,  in  the  middle  of  June,  1811,  opposite  a  village  on 
the  Bay  of  Clyoquot,  near  the  entrance  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca.  She 
was  there  immediately  surrounded  by  crowds  of  Indians  in  canoes, 
who  continued  for  some  days  to  trade  in  the  most  peaceable  manner, 
so  as  to  disarm  Captain  Thorne  and  Mr.  M'^Kay  of  all  suspicions. 
At  length,  either  in  consequence  of  an  affront  given  to  a  chief  by 
the  captain,  or  with  the  view  of  plundering  the  vessel,  the  natives 
embraced  an  opportunity  when  the  men  were  dispersed  on  or  below 
tiie  decks,  in  the  performance  of  their  duties,  and  in  a  moment  put 
to  death  every  one  of  the  crew  and  passengers,  except  the  inter- 
preter, who  leaped  into  a  canoe,  and  was  saved  by  some  women,  and 
the  clerk,  Mr.  Lewis,  who  retreated,  with  a  few  sailors,  to  the  cabin. 
The  survivors  of  the  crew,  by  the  employment  of  their  fire-arms, 
succeeded  in  driving  the  savages  from  the  ship ;  and,  in  the  night, 
four  of  them  quitted  her  in  a  boat,  leaving  on  board  Mr.  Lewis  and 
some  others,  who  were  severely  wounded.  On  the  following  day, 
the  natives  again  crowded  around  and  on  board  the  Tonquin ;  and 
while  they  were  engaged  in  rifling  her,  she  was  blown  up,  most 
probably  by  the  wounded  men  left  below  deck.  The  seamen  who 
had  endeavored  to  escape  in  the  boat  were  soon  retaken,  and  put 
to  death  in  the  most  cruel  manner,  by  the  Indians  ;  the  interpreter 
was  preserved,  and  remained  in  slavery  two  years,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  was  suffered  to  depart. 

The  loss  of  this  ship  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  Pacific  Company; 
but  the  partners  at  Astoria  were  consoled  by  the  reflections,  that 
their  chief  could  bear  pecuniary  damages  to  a  far  greater  extent 
without  injury  to  his  credit,  and  that,  if  their  enterprise  should  prove 
successful,  ample  indemnification  would  soon  be  obtained.  It  was 
therefore  determined  that  Mr.  Hunt  should  embark  in  the  Beaver, 
to  superintend  the  trade  along  the  northern  coasts,  and  visit  the 


1813.]     WAR   BETWEEN    THE    UNITED    STATES    AND    G.  BRITAIN.        301 

Russian  establishments,  as  Mr.  Mackay  would  have  done,  but  for 
the  destruction  of  the  Tonquin  ;  and  he  accordingly  took  his  de- 
parture in  that  ship  in  August,  1812,  leaving  the  superintendence 
of  the  affairs  at  the  factory,  as  before,  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Mac- 
dougal.  A  party  was  at  the  same  time  despatched  to  the  upper 
country,  by  which  another  trading  post  was  established  on  the 
SpoJcan,  a  stream  joining  the  northern  branch  of  the  Columbia, 
about  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  ocean  ;  and  accounts  of 
all  the  transactions,  to  that  period,  were  transmitted  to  the  United 
States,  under  the  care  of  Messrs.  Crooks,  Maclellan,  and  Robert 
Stuart,  who  recrossed  the  continent,  and  reached  New  York  in  the 
spring  of  1813,  after  encountering  difficulties  and  dangers  greater, 
in  many  respects,  than  those  undergone  in  their  journey  to  the 
Pacific. 

The  trade  with  the  Indians  of  the  Lower  Missouri  was,  in  the 
mean  time,  going  on  prosperously ;  provisions  were  abundant  at 
Astoria,  and  a  large  quantity  of  furs  was  collected  there,  in  expecta- 
tion of  the  arrival  of  the  Beaver,  which  was  to  take  them  to  Canton 
in  the  ensuing  spring.  The  hopes  of  the  partners  were  thus  revived, 
and  tliey  had  daily  additional  grounds  for  anticipating  success  in  their 
undertaking,  when,  in  January,  1813,  they  learned  that  the  United 
States  had  declared  war  against  Great  Britain  in  June  previous. 
This  news  spread  an  instantaneous  gloom  over  the  minds  of  all, 
which  was  increased  by  information  received  from  a  trading  vessel, 
that  the  Beaver  was  lying  at  Canton,  blockaded  by  a  British  ship  of 
war :  and  soon  afterwards,  Messrs.  Mactavish  and  Laroque,  partners 
in  the  North- West  Company,  arrived  near  Astoria,  with  sixteen  men, 
bringing  accounts  of  the  success  of  the  British  arms  on  the  northern 
frontiers  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  blockade  of  all  the 
Atlantic  coasts  of  the  latter  country  by  British  squadrons. 

Notwithstanding  these  circumstances,  Laroque  and  Mactavish 
were  received  and  treated  by  Macdougal  and  Mackenzie,  the  only 
partners  of  the  Pacific  Company  then  at  Astoria,  with  the  same 
attention  and  hospitality  which  had  been  shown  to  Thompson  in 
the  preceding  year ;  and  were  supplied  with  provisions  and  goods 
for  trading,  as  if  they  had  been  friends  and  allies,  instead  of  com- 
mercial rivals  and  political  enemies.  A  series  of  private  conferences 
were  then  held  between  the  chief  persons  of  the  two  parties,  at  the 
conclusion  of  which,  Macdougal  and  Mackenzie  announced  their 
determination  that  the  company  should  be  dissolved  on  the  1st  of 
July,  and  sent  messengers  to  communicate  the  fact  to  the  other 


•in 

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302 


HUNT  S    NEGOTIATIONS    WITH   BARANOr. 


[1813. 


li 

fl 

m 

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■    ',  1 

; 

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i 

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i    ' 

partners,  Stuart  and  Clarke,  at  the  Okinagan  and  Spokan  posts. 
The  latter  gentleman,  on  receiving  this  news,  hastened  to  the 
factory,  and  there  strongly  opposed  the  determination  to  abandon 
the  enterprise  ;  and  it  was  at  length  agreed  among  them,  that  the 
establishments  should  be  maintained  a  few  months  longer,  at  the 
end  of  whicli  time,  the  company  should  be  dissolved,  unless  assist- 
ance were  received  from  the  United  States.  Three  of  the  clerks 
including  Ross  Cox,  however,  immediately  quitted  the  concern 
and,  entering  the  service  of  the  North- West  Company,  took  their 
departure  for  the  upper  country  with  Laroque  and  Mactavish, 
in  July. 

From  the  United  States  no  assistance  came.  The  ship  Lark  was 
despatched  from  New  York,  in  March,  1813,  with  men  and  goods 
for  the  Columbia ;  but  she  was  wrecked  in  October  following,  near 
one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  on  which  the  captain,  Northrup,  and 
crew  succeeded  in  effecting  a  landing.  The  American  government 
also  determined,  in  consequence  of  the  representations  of  Mr.  Astor, 
to  send  the  frigate  Adams  to  the  North  Pacific,  for  the  protection 
of  the  infant  establishment ;  but,  just  as  that  ship  was  about  to  sail 
from  New  York,  it  became  necessary  to  transfer  her  crew  to  Lake 
Ontario,  and  the  blockade  of  the  coasts  of  the  United  States  by  the 
British  rendered  all  further  efforts  to  convey  succors  to  Astoria 
unavailing. 

In  the  mean  time,  Mr.  Hunt,  the  chief  agent,  who  had  sailed 
from  the  Columbia  in  the  Beaver,  in  August,  1812,  as  already  men- 
tioned, visited  the  principal  Russian  establishments  on  the  north- 
west coasts  of  America,  and  the  adjacent  islands,  and  collected  a 
large  quantity  of  furs,  besides  concluding  arrangements  highly 
advantageous  to  the  Pacific  Company,  with  Governor  Baranof,*  at 
Sitka.  It  was  then  agreed  between  Mr.  Hunt  and  Captain  Sovvies, 
that  the  Beaver  should  proceed,  by  way  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  to 
Canton,  instead  of  returning  to  the  Columbia,  as  had  been  previous- 
ly determined  ;  and  this  was  done,  though  Hunt  went  no  farther  in 
her  than  to  Woahoo,  one  of  the  Sandwich  group,  where  he  remained 
several  months,  waiting  for  some  vessel  to  carry  him  to  Astoria. 
At  length,  in  June,  1813,  the  ship  Albatross,  of  Boston,  arrived  at 


*  An  amusing  account  of  the  negotiations  between  Hunt  and  Baranof  is  given  in 
Mr.  Irving's  Astoria.  The  chief  agent  of  the  Pacific  Company  appears  to  have  been 
in  as  much  danger  from  the  "  potations  pottle  deep"  of  raw  rum  and  burning  punch, 
which  accompanied  each  of  his  interviews  with  the  governor  of  Russian  America,  as 
from  hunger,  thirst,  savages,  or  storms,  during  his  whole  expedition. 


1813.] 


ASTORIA    SOLD    TO    THE    NORTH-WEST    COMPANY. 


303 


4 


Woahoo,  from  China,  bringing  information  of  the  war  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  and  also  that  the  Beaver  was 
blockaded  by  a  British  siiip  at  Canton ;  or>  learning  whicii,  Mr. 
Hunt  chartered  the  Albatross,  and  proceeded  in  her  to  the  Colum- 
bia, where  he  arrived  on  the  4th  of  August. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  astounded  on  learning  the  resolution  adopted  by 
the  other  partners  at  Astoria  during  his  absence,  which  he  endeav- 
ored to  induce  them  to  change  ;  but,  finding  them  determined,  he 
reluctantly  acceded  to  it  himself,  and,  after  a  few  days,  he  re- 
embarked  in  the  Albatross,  for  the  Sandwich  Islands,  in  search  of 
some  vessel  to  convey  the  property  of  the  Pacific  Company  to  a 
place  of  safety.  At  the  Sandwich  Islands  no  vessel  could  be  found  ; 
and  Hunt  accordingly  continued  in  the  Albatross  until  she  arrived 
at  Nooahevah,  (one  of  the  Washington  Islands,  discovered  by 
Ingraham,  in  1791,)  where  he  learned  from  Commodore  David 
Porter,  who  was  lying  there  in  the  American  frigate  Essex,  that  a 
large  British  squadron,  under  Commodore  Hillyar,  was  on  its  way 
to  the  Columbia.  This  news  caused  Hunt  to  hasten  back  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  which  he  reached  in  December,  soon  after  the 
wreck  of  the  Lark ;  and,  having  there  chartered  a  small  brig,  called 
the  Pedler,  he  sailed  in  her  to  Astoria,  where  he  arrived  in 
February,  1814. 

The  fate  of  the  Pacific  Company,  and  its  establishments  in  North- 
West  America,  had,  however,  been  decided  some  time  before  the 
Pedler  reached  Astoria. 

Soon  after  the  departure  of  Hunt,  Mr.  Mactavish  and  his  followers 
of  the  North- West  Company  again  appeared  at  Astoria,  where  they 
expected  to  meet  a  ship  called  the  Isaac  Todd,  which  had  sailed 
from  London  in  March,  laden  with  goods,  and  under  convoy  of  a 
British  squadron,  charged  "  to  take  and  destroy  every  thing  Amer- 
ican on  the  north-west  coast.^^  They  were  received  as  before, 
and  allowed  to  pitch  their  camp  unmolested  near  the  factory  ;  and 
private  conferences  were  held  between  Mactavish  and  Macdougal, 
the  results  of  which  were,  after  some  days,  communicated  to  the 
other  partners,  and  then  to  the  clerks  of  the  Pacific  Company. 
These  results  were  set  forth  in  an  agreement,  signed  on  the 
16th  of  October,  1813,  between  Messrs.  Mactavish  and  Alexander 
Stuart,  on  the  one  part,  and  Messrs.  Macdougal,  Mackenzie,  and 
Clarke,  on  the  other ;  by  which  all  the  "  establishments,  furs,  and 
stock  in  hand"  of  the  Pacific  Company,  in  tho  country  of  the 


ti 


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304 


ASTORIA    TAKEN    BY    THE    BRITISH. 


[1813. 


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lif  ill  I'll 


Columbia,  were  sold  to  the  North- West  Company,  for  about  fifty, 
eight  thousand  dollars. 

Whilst  the  business  of  valuing  the  furs  and  goods  at  Astoria,  and 
of  transferring  them  to  their  new  owners,  was  in  progress,  the  British 
sloop  of  war  Raccoon  appeared  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Black,  who  had  been  despatched  from  the 
South  Pacific,  by  Commodore  Hillyar,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the 
American  forts  and  establishments  on  the  Columbia,  and  had  hast- 
ened thither  in  expectation  of  securing  some  glory,  and  a  rich  share 
of  prize-money,  by  the  conquest.  On  approaching  the  factory, 
however,  the  captain  soon  saw  that  he  should  gain  no  laurels ;  and, 
after  it  had  been  formally  surrendered  to  him  by  Mr.  Macdougal, 
he  learnt,  to  his  infinite  dissatisfaction,  that  its  contents  had  become 
the  property  of  British  subjects.  He  could,  therefore,  only  haul 
down  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  and  hoist  that  of  Great  Britain 
in  its  stead,  over  the  establishment,*  the  name  of  which  was,  with 
due  solemnity,  changed  to  Fort  George  ;  and,  having  given  vent  to 
his  indignation  against  the  partners  of  both  companies,  whom  he 
loudly  accused  of  collusion  to  defraud  himself  and  his  officers  and 
crew  of  the  reward  due  for  their  exertions,  he  sailed  back  to  the 
South  Pacific. 

The  brig  Pedler  arrived  in  the  Columbia,  as  before  said,  on  the 
28th  of  February,  1814,  and  Mr.  Hunt  found  Macdougal  super- 
intending the  factory,  not,  however,  as  chief  agent  of  the  Pacific 
Company,  but  as  a  partner  of  the  North- West  Company,  into 
which  he  had  been  admitted.  Hunt  had,  therefore,  merely  to 
close  the  concerns  of  the  American  association  in  that  quarter,  and 
to  receive  the  bills  on  Montreal,  given  in  payment  for  its  effects; 
after  which  he  reembarked  in  the  Pedler,  with  two  of  the  clerks, 
and  proceeded,  by  way  of  Canton  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  to 
New  York.  Of  the  other  persons  who  had  been  attached  to  the 
Pacific  Fur  Company's  establishments,  some  were  murdered  by  the 
Indians  on  Lewis  River,  in  the  summer  of  1813;  some,  including 
Mr.  Franchere,  the  author  of  the  narrative  of  the  expeditions,  re- 
turned over  land  to  the  United  States,  or  to  Canada  ;  and  some 
remained  on  the  Columbia,  in  the  service  of  the  North- West  Com- 
pany. The  long-expected  ship  Isaac  Todd  reached  Fort  George 
on  the  17th  of  April,  thirteen  months  after  her  departure  from  Eng- 


*  See  the  account  of  the  capture  of  Astoria,  extracted  from  Cox,  in  the  Proofs 
and  Illustrations,  under  the  letter  6,  No.  3. 


1814.] 


TERMINATION    OF    THE    ASTORIA    ENTERPRISE. 


305 


-*' 


I 
ii 


Cox,  in  the  Proofii 


land,  bringing  a  large  stock  of  supplies  ;  by  the  aid  of  which  the 
partners  of  the  North- West  Company  were  enabled  to  extend  their 
operations,  and  to  establish  themselves  more  firmly  in  the  country. 

Such  was  the  termination  of  the  Astoria  enterprise;  for  no 
attempt  has  been  since  made  by  any  of  the  persons  who  were  en- 
gaged in  it  to  form  establishments  on  the  western  side  of  America. 
It  was  wisely  planned :  the  resources  for  conducting  it  were  ample  ; 
and  its  failure  was  occasioned  by  circumstan-^es,  the  principal  of 
which  could  not  have  been  reasonably  anticipated  at  the  time  of  its 
commencement.  That  ships  might  be  lost  at  sea,  or  that  parties  might 
be  destroyed  by  savages,  or  perish  from  cold  or  hunger, — casualties 
such  as  these  were  expected,  and  provisions  were  made  for  the  con- 
tingencies. But,  in  1810,  when  the  Beaver  sailed  from  New  York, 
no  one  believed  that,  before  the  end  of  two  years,  the  United  States 
would  be  at  war  with  the  greatest  maritime  power  in  the  world. 
By  that  war  the  whole  plan  was  traversed.  Communications  by 
sea  between  the  United  States  ano  the  Pacific  coasts  became  diffi- 
cult and  uncertain,  whilst  those  by  land  were  of  little  advantage, 
and  were  always  liable  to  interruption  by  the  enemy  ;  and  there 
was,  in  fact,  no  object  in  collecting  furs  on  the  Columbia,  when 
those  articles  could  not  be  transported  to  China. 

The  Pacific  Compan  ^  nevertheless,  might,  and  probably  would, 
have  withstood  all  the  ^  difliculties,  if  the  directing  partners  on  the 
Columbia  had  been  Americans,  instead  of  being,  as  the  greater  part 
of  them  loere,  men  unconnected  with  the  United  States  by  birth,  or 
citizenship,  or  previous  residence,  or  family  ties.  Mr.  Astor  de- 
clares that  he  would  have  preferred  the  loss  of  the  establishments 
and  property  by  a  fair  capture,  to  the  sale  of  them  in  a  manner 
which  he  considered  disgraceful ;  yet,  although  the  conduct  of 
Macdougal  and  Mackenzie,  in  that  sale,  and  subsequently,  was 
such  as  to  authorize  suspicions  with  regard  to  their  motives,  they 
could  not  have  been  expected  to  engage  in  hostilities  against  their 
compatriots  and  former  friends.  Being  thus  restrained  from  defend- 
ing the  honor  of  the  Pacific  Company  by  force,  they  may  have  con- 
sidered themselves  bound  to  take  care  of  its  interests,  by  the  only 
means  in  their  power,  as  they  did  in  the  sale.  American  citizens 
would  have  resisted  the  North-West  Company,  and  would  doubt- 
less have  maintained  their  supremacy,  in  the  couptry  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, for  some  time,  possibly  until  peace  had  been  made  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  '" 

39 


?    '(V..iijl 


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! 


II, 
'If 


I,,  |, 


1 


'  •:«:  i 


p.  :| 


'fir 
■«.'  ii 


306 


CHAPTER    XV. 


1814  TO  1820. 


Restitution  of  Astoria  to  the  United  States  by  Great  Britain,  agreeably  to  the  Treaty 
of  Ghent  —  Alleged  Reservation  of  Rights  on  the  Part  of  Great  Britain  —  First 
Negotiation  between  the  Governments  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
respecting  the  Territories  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  Convention  for  the 
joint  Occtipancy  of  those  Territories  —  Florida  Treaty  between  Spain  and  the 
United  States,  by  which  the  Latter  acquires  the  Title  of  Spain  to  the  North- 
West  Coasts  —  Colonel  Long's  exploring  Expedition  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  — 
Disputes  between  the  British  North- West  and  Hudson's  Bay  Companies  —  Union 
of  those  Bodies  —  Act  of  Parliament  extending  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Canada 
Courts  to  the  Pacific  Countries  —  Russian  Establishments  on  the  North  Pacific- 
Expeditions  in  Search  of  Northern  Passages  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific 
—  Death  of  Tamahamaha,  and  Introduction  of  Christianity  into  the  Sandwich 
Islands. 


-r  ( 


m^ 


The  capture  of  Astoria  by  the  British,  and  the  transfer  of  the 
Pacific  Company's  establishments  on  the  Columbia  to  the  North- 
West  Company,  were  not  known  to  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the 
United  States  at  Ghent,  on  the  24th  of  December,  1814,  when 
they  signed  the  treaty  of  peace  between  their  country  and  Great 
Britain.  That  treaty  contains  no  allusion  whatsoever  to  the  north- 
west coasts  of  America,  or  to  any  portion  of  the  continent  west  of 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  The  plenipotentiaries  of  the  United 
States  had  been  instructed  by  their  government  to  consent  to  no 
claim  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain  to  territory  in  that  quarter  south 
of  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude,  for  reasons  which  have  been  already 
stated  ;  and,  after  some  discussion,  they  proposed  to  the  British  an 
article  similar  in  effect  to  the  fifth  article  of  the  convention  signed, 
but  not  definitively  concluded,  in  1807,  according  to  which,*  a 
line  drawn  along  that  parallel  should  separate  the  territories  of  the 
powers  so  far  as  they  extended  west  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods, 
provided,  however,  that  nothing  in  the  article  should  be  construed 
as  applying  to  any  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
British  plenipotentiaries  were  willing  to  accept  this  article,  if  it  were 
also  accompanied  by  a  provision  that  their  subjects  should  have 
access  to  the  Mississippi  River,  through  the  territories  of  the  United 

"  For  the  reasons  and  the  contention  here  mentioned,  see  chap.  xiii. 


1815.] 


THE    UNITED    STATES    CLAIM    ASTORIA. 


307 


States,  and  the  right  of  navigating  it  to  the  sea ;  but  the  Americans 
refused  positively  to  agree  to  such  a  stipulation,  and  the  question 
of  boundaries  west  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  was  left  unsettled  by 
the  treaty. 

It  was  nevertheless  agreed,  in  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  of 
Ghent,  that  "  all  ttrritory,  places,  and  possessions,  whatsoever,  taken 
by  either  party  from  the  other  during  the  war,  or  which  may  be  taken 
after  the  signing  of  this  treaty,  excepting  only  the  islands  hereinafter 
mentioned,  [in  the  Bay  of  Fundy,]  shall  be  restored  without  delay ; " 
and,  in  virtue  of  this  article,  Mr.  Monroe,  the  secretary  of  slate  of 
the  United  States,  on  the  18th  of  July,  1815,  announced  to  Mr. 
Baker,  the  charge  d'affaires  of  Great  Britain  at  Washington,  that 
the  president  intended  immediately  to  reoccupy  the  post  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia.  This  determination  seems  to  have  been 
taken  partly  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Astor,  who  was  anxious,  if  pos- 
sible, to  recommence  operations  on  his  former  plan  in  North- West 
America ;  but  no  measures  were  adopted  for  the  purpose  until 
September,  1817,  when  Captain  J.  Biddle,  commanding  the  sloop 
of  war  Ontario,  and  Mr.  J.  B.  Prevost,  were  jointly  commissioned 
to  proceed  in  that  ship  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  and  there 
'to  assert  the  claim  of  the  United  States  to  the  sovereignty  of  the 
adjacent  country,  in  a  friendly  and  peaceable  manner,  and  without 
the  employment  of  force."  * 

A  few  days  after  the  departure  of  Messrs.  Biddle  and  Prevost  for 
the  Pacific,  on  this  mission,  Mr.  Bagot,  the  British  plenipotentiary 
at  Washington,  addressed  to  Mr.  J.  Q,  Adams,  the  American 
secretary  of  state,  some  inquiries  respecting  the  destination  of  the 
Ontario,  and  the  objects  of  her  voyage  ;  and,  having  been  informed 
on  those  points,  he  remonstrated  against  the  intended  occupation 
of  the  post  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  on  the  groimds  "  that 
the  place  had  not  been  captured  during  tho  late  war,  but  that  the 
Americans  had  retired  from  it,  under  an  agreement  with  the  North- 
West  Company,  which  had  purchased  their  effects,  and  had  ever 
since  retained  peaceable  possession  of  the  coast ; "  and  that  "  the 
territory  itself  tvas  early  taken  possession  of  in  his  majesty's  name, 
and  had  been  since  considered  as  forming  part  of  his  majesty's 
dominions  ;  "  under  which  circumstances,  no  claim  for  the  restitution 
of  the  post  could  be  founded  on  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  of 
Ghent.      At  what  precise  time  this  possession  was  taken,  or  on 


%. 


II 


1   :  ■':,1 


iV:M\^i 


',:if 


*  See  President  Monroe's  message  to  Congress  of  April  I5th,  1822,  and  the  accom- 
panying documents. 


'i>  ft!  'i|iJ-'. 


i       f 


i     I 


.1, 


"'h     I  ! 


li.  != 


308 


O.    BRITAIN    DENIES    THE    CLAIM    OF    THE    U.    STATES. 


[1818. 


what  grounds  the  territory  was  considered  as  part  of  the  British 
dominions,  the  minister  did  not  attempt  to  show. 

Mr.  Bagot  at  the  same  time  communicated  the  circumstances  to 
his  government,  and  they  became  the  subjects  of  discussion  between 
Lord  Castlereagh,  the  British  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  and  Mr. 
Rush,  the  American  plenipotentiary  at  London.  Lord  Castlereagh 
proposed  tliat  the  question  respecting  the  claim  to  the  post  on  the 
Columbia  should  be  referred  to  commissioners,  as  many  other  dis- 
puted points  had  been,  agreeably  to  the  treaty  of  Ghent ;  to  which 
Mr.  Rush  objected,  for  the  simple  reasons  —  that  the  spot  was  in  the 
possession  of  the  Americans  before  the  war;  that  it  fell,  by  bel- 
ligerent capture,  into  the  hands  of  the  British  during  the  war ;  and 
that,  "  under  a  treaty  which  stipulated  the  mutual  restitution  of  all 
places  reduced  by  the  arms  of  either  party,  the  right  of  the  United 
Slates  to  immediate  and  full  repossession  could  not  be  impugned." 
The  British  secretary,  upon  this,  admitted  the  right  of  the  Ameri- 
cans to  be  reinstated,  and  to  be  the  party  in  possession,  while 
treating  on  the  title ;  though  he  regretted  that  the  government  of 
the  United  States  should  have  employed  means  to  obtain  restitution 
which  might  lead  to  difficulties.  Mr.  Rush  had  no  apprehensions 
of  that  kind ;  and  it  was  finally  agreed  that  the  post  should  be 
restored  to  the  Americans,  and  that  the  question  of  the  title  to  the 
territory  should  be  discussed  in  the  negotiation  as  to  limits  and 
other  matters,  which  was  soon  to  be  commenced.  ^  ord  Bathurst, 
the  British  secretary  for  the  colonies,  accordingly  sent  to  the  agents 
of  the  North-West  Company  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  a 
despatch,  directing  them  to  afibrd  due  facilities  for  the  reoccupation 
of  the  post  at  that  point  by  the  Americans ;  and  an  order  to  the 
same  eficct  was  also  sent  from  the  Admiralty  to  the  conunandcr  of 
the  British  naval  forces  in  the  Pacific. 

The  Ontario  passed  around  Cape  Horn  into  the  Pacific,  and 
arrived,  in  February,  1818,  at  Valparaiso,  where  it  was  agreed 
between  the  commissioners  that  Captain  Biddle  should  proceed  to 
the  Columbia,  and  receive  possession  of  Astoria  for  the  United 
States,  Mr.  Prevost  remaining  in  Chili  for  the  purpose  of  transact- 
ing some  business  with  the  government  of  that  country,  which  had 
also  been  intrusted  to  him.  Captain  Biddle  accordingly  sailed  to 
the  Columbia,  and,  on  the  9th  of  August,  he  took  temporary  pos- 
session of  the  country  on  that  river,  in  the  name  of  the  United 
States,  after  which  he  returned  to  the  South  Pacific. 

In  the  mean  time,  Commodore  Bowles,  the  commander  of  the 


I'l 


1818.] 


ASTORIA    RESTORED   TO   THE    UNITED    STATES. 


309 


British  naval  forces  in  the  South  Sea,  received  at  Rio  de  Janeiro 
the  order  iVoin  the  Admiralty  for  the  surrender  of  the  post  on  the 
Columbia  to  the  Americans.  This  order  he  transmitted  to  Captain 
Sheriff,  the  senior  officer  of  the  ships  in  the  Pacific,  who,  meeting 
Mr.  Prevost  at  Valparaiso,  informed  him  of  the  contents  of  the 
order,  and  oflered  him  a  passage  to  the  Columbia,  for  the  purpose 
of  completing  the  business,  as  it  certainly  could  not  have  been  done 
by  Captain  Biddle.  This  ofler  was  accepted  by  the  American 
commissioner,  who  proceeded,  in  the  British  frigate  Blossom,  to  the 
Columbia,  and  entered  that  river  in  the  beginning  of  October ;  and 
Mr.  Keith,  the  superintending  partner  of  the  North- West  Company 
at  Fort  George,  or  Astoria,  having  also  received  the  order,  from  the 
colonial  department  at  London,  for  the  surrender  of  the  place,  the 
all'air  was  soon  despatched.*  On  the  6th  of  the  month.  Captain 
Hickey  and  Mr.  Keith,  as  joint  commissioners  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain,  presented  to  Mr.  Prevost  a  paper  declaring  that,  in  obe- 
dience to  the  commands  of  the  prince  regent,  as  signified  in  Lord 
Bathurst's  despatch  of  the  27th  of  January  previous,  and  in  con- 
tbrmily  to  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  they  restored  to 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  through  its  agent,  Mr.  Prevost, 
the  settlement  of  Fort  George,  on  the  Columbia  River ;  and  Mr. 
Prevost,  in  return,  gave  another  paper,  setting  forth  the  fact  of  his 
acceptance  of  the  settlement  for  his  government,  agreeably  to  the 


if 

j 

'1 

i 

\   1 

^ 

il. 

1,, 
i 

i 

i 
■  1 

I 

'  I 


'  I'rcsidiMit  Monroe's  message  to  Congress  of  April  17th,  1S22,  accompanied  by 
Mr.  Prevost's  letter,  dated  Monterey,  November  llth,  1816.  The  two  papers  above 
m-ntioned  are  of  so  much  importance,  that  they  are  here  given  at  length. 

Tiie  act  of  delivery  presented  by  the  Britisli  commissioners  is  as  follows  :  — 

"III  obedience  to  the  commands  of  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  Regent,  signi- 
fied in  a  despatch  from  the  right  honorable  the  Earl  Bathurst,  addressed  to  the  part- 
ners or  agents  of  the  North- West  Company,  bearing  date  the  27th  of  January,  1818, 
and  in  obedience  to  a  subsequ'-nt  order,  dated  the  2(jth  of  July,  from  W.  H.  Sheriff, 
Esq.,  captain  of  his  Majesty's  ship  Andromache,  we,  the  undersigned,  do,  in  conform- 
ity to  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  restore  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  through  its  agent,  J.  B.  Prevost,  Esq.,  the  settlement  of  Fort  George, 
on  the  Columbia  River.  Given  under  our  hands,  in  triplicate,  at  Fort  George, 
(Columbia  River,)  this  6th  day  of  October,  1818. 

"  F.  MicKEv,  Captain  of  his  Majesty's  ship  Blossom. 
"J.  Keith,  of  the  JVorth-fVest  Company." 

The  act  of  acceptance^  on  the  part  of  the  American  commissioner,  is  in  these  words :  — 

"  I  do  hereby  acknowledge  to  have  this  day  received,  in  behalf  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  the  possession  of  tiie  settlement  designated  above,  in  conformity 
to  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent.  Given  under  my  hand,  in  triplicate,  at 
Fort  George,  (Columbia  River,)  this  Gtli  of  October,  1818. 

"J.  B.  Prevost,  Agent  for  the  United  States." 


!    r'-tl 


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4b    I*    I 


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ill.- 

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m^ 

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1 

im. 

310 


PRETENDED    nESEHVATION    OF    THE    BRITISH. 


[1818. 


above-mentioned  treaty.  The  British  flag  was  then  formally  low- 
ered,  and  that  of  the  United  States,  having  been  hoisted  in  its  stead 
over  the  fort,  was  saluted  by  the  Blossom. 

The  documents  above  cited  —  the  only  ones  which  passed 
between  the  commissioners  on  this  occasion — are  sufficient  to 
show  that  no  reservation  or  exception  was  made  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain,  and  that  the  restoration  of  Astoria  to  the  United  States 
was  complete  and  unconditional.  Nevertheless,  in  a  nef^otiation 
between  the  governments  of  those  nations,  in  1826,  relative  to  the 
territories  of  the  Columbia,  it  was  maintained  by  the  plenipoten- 
tiaries of  Great  Britain,*  that  the  restoration  of  Astoria  could  not 
have  been  legally  required  by  the  United  States,  in  virtue  of  the 
treaty  of  Ghent,  because  the  place  was  not  a  national  possession, 
nor  a  military  post,  and  was  not  taken  during  war  ;  but  "  in  order 
that  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  reflection  might  be  cast  upon  the  good 
faith  of  the  British  government,  the  latter  determined  to  give  the 
most  liberal  extension  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent;  and 
in  1818,  the  purchase  which  the  British  Company  had  made  in 
1813  was  restored  to  the  United  States;  particular  care  being, 
however,  taken,  on  this  occasion,  to  prevent  any  misapprehension  as 
to  the  extent  of  the  concession  made  by  Great  Britain."  In  support 
of  this  last  assertion,  two  documents  are  produced,  as  having  been 
addressed,  in  1818,  bt/  the  British  ministers  to  their  oivn  agents,  nn(\ 
which,  though  never  before  published,  or  communicated  in  any  way  to 
the  United  States,  were  considered  by  the  plenipotentiaries,  in  1826, 
as  putting  the  "  case  of  the  restoration  of  Fort  Astoria  in  too  clear 
a  light  to  require  further  observation."  One  of  these  documents  is 
presented  as  an  extract  from  Lord  Castlereagh's  despatch  to  Mr. 
Bagot,  dated  February  4th,  1818,  in  which  his  lordship  says,  "You 
will  observe,  that  whilst  this  government  is  not  disposed  to  contest 
with  the  American  government  the  point  of  possession,  as  it  stood 
in  the  Columbia  River,  at  the  moment  of  the  rupture,  they  are  not 
prepared  to  admit  the  validity  of  the  title  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States  to  this  settlement.  In  signifying,  therefore,  to  Mr. 
Adams  the  full  acquiescence  of  your  government  in  the  reoccupa- 
tion  of  the  limited  position  which  the  United  States  held  in  that 
river  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  you  will,  at  the  same  time,  assert, 
in  suitalle  terms,  the  claim  of  Great  Britain  to  that  territory,  upon 
which  the  American  settlement  must  be  considered  an  encroach- 

*  Staleiient  presented  by  the  British  plenipotentiaries  to  Mr.  Gtllatin,  among  the 
Proofs  and  illustrations,  letter  H.     See  hereafter,  chap.  xvi. 


•'^, 


♦' 


1818.] 


PRETENDED    RESERVATION    OF    BRITISH    RIGHTS. 


311 


G-illatin,  among  the 


ment : "  the  plenipotentiaries  ndd  that  "  this  instruction  was  ex- 
ecuted verbally  by  the  person  to  whom  it  was  addressed."  The 
other  document  purports  to  be  a  copy  of  the  despatch  from  Lord 
Bathurst  to  the  partners  of  the  North- West  Company,  mentioned  in 
the  Act  of  Delivery,  presented  by  Messrs.  Keith  and  Hickey,  direct- 
ing them  to  restore  the  post  on  the  Columbia,  "  in  pursuance  of  the 
first  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,"  in  which  the  words  "  without, 
however,  admitting  the  right  of  that  government  to  the  possession  in 
question  "  appear  in  a  parenthesis.'** 

Without  inquiring,  at  present,  whether  or  not  Astoria  was  a 
mtional  possession  of  the  United  States,  agreeably  to  the  rules  and 
definitions  laid  down  by  writers  on  national  law,  there  can  be  no 
difficulty  in  showing  that  it  was  such  according  to  the  principles  and 
practice  of  Great  Britain ;  and  for  that  purpose,  it  is  necessary 
merely  to  refer  to  the  circumstances  attending  the  dispute  between 
that  power  and  Spain,  in  1790,  when  the  British  government  re- 
quired from  Spain  the  surrender  of  a  territory  discovered  by  her 
navigators,  and  occupied  by  her  forces,  on  the  ground  that  it  had, 
previous  to  such  occupation,  become  the  property  of  British  sub- 
jects. Whether  Astoria  was  a  military  post  or  not,  could  be  of  no 
consequence,  as  the  treaty  of  Ghent  provides  for  the  restoration  of 
"fl//  territory,  places,  and  possessions,  whatsoever,  taken  by  either 
party  from  the  other,  during  the  war,"  except  those  on  the  Atlantic 
side  of  America  specially  named ;  and  that  the  establishments  on 
the  Columbia  were  so  taken  by  the  British  during  war,  has  been 
sufficiently  proved.  The  right  of  the  United  States  to  make  settle- 
ments on  the  Columbia,  existed  previous  to  the  foundation  of  As- 
toria, in  virtue  of  the  discoveries  and  explorations  of  their  private 
citizens  and  public  officers ;  and  that  right  could  not  be  lessened, 
by  any  subsequent  acts  of  their  citizens,  without  the  consent  of 
their  government.     The  agents  of  the  Pacific  Company,  in  c.^pec- 

*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  this  despatch,  as  given  in  tiie  British  statement,  which 
will  be  found  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume, 
under  the  letter  H :  — 

"Downing  Street,  January  27th,  1818. 

"  Intelligence  having  been  received,  that  the  United  States  sloop  of  war  Ontario 
has  been  sent  by  the  American  government  to  establish  a  settlement  on  the  Columbia 
River,  which  was  held  by  that  State  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  last  war,  I  am  to 
acquaint  you  that  it  is  the  Prince  Regent's  pleasure,  (without,  however,  admitting  the 
right  of  that  government  to  the  possession  in  question,)  that,  in  pursuance  of  the  first 
article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  due  facility  should  be  given  to  the  reoccupation  of  the 
said  settlement  by  the  officers  of  the  United  States ;  and  I  am  to  desire  that  you 
would  contribute,  as  much  as  lies  in  your  power,  to  the  execution  of  his  Royal  High- 
Dew's  commands.     I  have,  &c.  &c., 

"Bathcrst." 


iH", 


r 

IK 

hi::-'  I 


m 


i^M 


li 


312 


BRITISH    VIEWS    OV    NATIONAL    rAITif. 


(1818. 


tation  of  the  arrival  of  an  overpowering  Rritish  force,  sold  their 
"  establishments,  furs,  and  stock  in  hand,''  *  to  the  North- West  Com- 
pany ;  but  they  did  not,  nor  eoiiM  tin-y,  alienate  tfiv  risrht  of  domain 
of  the  United  Staten,  which  continued  as  hefore  that  transuctioii 
until  the  British  forces  arrived,  ami  took  poHsession  of  the  coutiirv 
by  right  of  conquest.  The  same  circumstances  might  have  oc- 
curred with  regard  to  places  near  the  head  of  the  Mississippi,  or  in 
Maine  ;  oiid  Great  Britain  would  not  have  been  bound  more  slrorii'. 
ly  by  the  treaty  of  Ghent  to  restore  such  places  than  to  restore  the 
establishments  on  the  Columbia. 

With  regard  to  the  two  documents,  which  the  British  plenipo- 
tentiarics  consider  as  putting  *'  the  case  of  th.  restoration  of  Astoria 
in  too  clear  a  light  to  require  further  observation,"  —  that  is  to  say, 
as  establishing  the  fact  of  a  reservation  of  right  to  that  place  on  the 
part  of  Great  Britain,  —  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  they  are 
both  insufficient,  and,  indeed,  wholly  inadmissible,  as  evidence  in 
"  the  case."  The  United  States  have  no  more  concern  with  the 
private  despatches  of  the  British  ministers  to  their  agents,  than  with 
the  private  opinions  of  those  ministers ;  and  the  attempt  to  represent 
such  communications  as  reservations  of  rigl.t  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain  to  the  very  territory  which  she  was  then  in  the  act  of  re- 
storing to  the  United  States,  expressedly  in  pursuance  of  a  treaty, 
is  alike  at  variance  with  the  common  sense  and  the  common  inorals 
of  the  day.  No  arguments  are  required  to  show  that,  if  such  reser- 
vations were  allowable,  all  engagements  between  nations  would  he 
nugatory,  and  all  faith  at  an  end.  With  regard  to  the  assertion  of  the 
British  claim  to  Astoria,  which  is  said  to  have  been  verbally  made  hy 
the  British  envoy  at  Washington  to  Mr.  Adams  —  in  the  first  placet 
"  it  is  not  stated  how  the  communication  was  received,  nor  whether 
the  American  government  consented  to  accept  the  restitution  with 
the  reservation,  as  expressed  in  the  despatch  to  the  envoy  ; "  and  it 
is  certainly  by  no  means  consonant  with  the  usages  of  diplomatic 
intercourse  at  the  present  day,  to  treat  verbally  on  questions  so 
important  as  those  of  territorial  sovereignty,  or  to  consider  f\s  suf- 
ficient protests  and  exceptions  made  in  that  manner,  and  brought 
forward  long  after,  without  acknowledgment  of  any  kind  on  the 
part  of  those  to  whom  they  are  said  to  have  been  addressed.  The 
only  communication  received  by  the  American  government,  on  the 

*  See  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  letter  G,  No.  2. 

I  Mr.  Gallatin's  counter  statement,  during  the  negotiation  in  1826,  communicated 
to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  with  President  Adams's  message  of  December 
12th,  1827. 


•    •'' 


1818.J 


BHITIHII    VIKWS    or    NATIONAL    I'AITH. 


313 


occasion  of  tho  restitution  of  Astoria,  is  explicit :  "  We,  the  nnder- 
s/xf/jtrf,  do,  in  confonnity  to  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  of  (ihent, 
rtitore  to  the  government  of  the  United  States  the  settlement  of  Fort 
(Jeorgc,  on  the  Columbia  River  ;^'  and  this  direct  and  unqualified 
rccn^'nition  of  tiic  right  of  tho  United  States  cannot  be  aflected 
by  subae()uent  communications  to  or  from  any  persons. 

It  may  also  be  remarked,  that  although  the  British  government, 
in  \6M,  pronounced  as  suflicient  a  reservation  contained  in  a  secret 
(locputch  from  one  of  its  own  ministers  to  one  of  its  own  agents,  and 
withheld  from  the  other  party  interested  in  the  matter,  yet,  in  1834, 
the  sanjc  government  pronounced  tho  reservation  contained  in  tho 
Declaration  publicly  presented  by  the  S|)anish  ambassador  at  Lon- 
don, in  1771,  on  the  conclusion  of  the  dispute  respecting  the  Talk- 
land  Islands,  "  not  to  possess  any  substantial  weight  j"  ^  inasmuch  as 
it  had  not  been  noticed  in  the  Acceptance  presented  by  the  British 
government  in  return.  The  circumstances  connected  with  the  last- 
mentioned  transaction  have  been  already  so  fully  exposed,  that  it 
is  unnecessary  to  repeat  them  here. 

Immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  the  surrender  of  Astoria, 
Mr.  Keith  presented  to  Mr.  Prevost  a  note  containing  inquiries  — 
whether  or  not  the  government  of  tho  United  States  would  insist 
upon  tiie  abandonment  of  the  post  by  the  North- West  Company,! 
belbrc  the  final  decision  of  the  question  as  to  the  right  of  sove- 
reignty over  the  country ;  and  whether,  in  the  event  of  such  a 


f 


•  Letter  from  Viscount  Palmerston  to  Scnor  Moreno,  envoy  of  Buenos  Ayres 
at  London,  dati-d  Junuary  tith,  IHIM.  bee  the  note  in  p.  Ill,  containing  a  sketcti  of 
thi'  circunistniices  of  tlif  dispute  rifspecting  the  Falkland  Islands. 

t  The  buildings,  and,  indeed,  tho  whole  establishment  at  Astoria,  had  been  consid- 
erably increased,  since  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  North- West  Company.  Accord 
iiig  to  the  plan  and  description  of  the  place  sent  by  Mr.  Prevost  to  Washington,  the 
factory  consisted,  in  18 Id,  of  a  stockade  made  of  pine  logs,  twelve  feet  in  length 
above  tlie  ground,  enclosing  a  parallelogram  of  one  hundred  and  fifly  by  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet,  extending  in  its  greatest  length  from  north-west  to  south-east,  and 
defended  by  bastions  or  towers  at  two  opposite  angles.  Within  this  enclosure  were 
all  the  buildings  of  the  establishment,  such  as  dwelling-houses,  magazines,  store- 
houses, mechanics'  shops,  &c.  The  artillery  were  two  heavy  eighteen-pounders, 
six  six-pounders,  four  four-pound  carronades,  two  six-pound  cohorns,  and  seven 
swivels,  all  mounted.  The  number  of  persons  attached  to  the  place,  besides  a  few 
women  and  children,  was  sixty-five,  of  whom  twenty-three  were  whites,  twenty-six 
Sandwich  Islanders,  (or  Kana/tis,  as  they  are  generally  called  in  the  Pc.cific,)  and 
the  remainder  persons  of  mixed  blood,  from  Canada.  In  1821,  these  buildings  were 
all  destroyed  by  tire ;  and  since  that  period,  the  principal  establishment  of  the  British 
traders  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  has  been  Fort  Vancouver,  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Colunibia,  about  one  hundred  miles  from  the  sea.  Fort  George  now  consists  of 
only  three  or  four  log-houses,  occupied  by  a  Hudson's  Bay  trader. 

40 


M^: 


t 


314 


NEGOTIATION    AT    LONDON. 


4»i 


...  .     _ ,  ^ 


p  ii /'«''' ^4- r; 


[1818. 


decision  being  in  favor  of  the  United  States,  their  government 
would  be  disposed  to  indemnify  the  North- West  Company  for  any 
improvements  which  they  might,  in  the  mean  time,  have  made  there. 
On  these  points,  Mr.  Prevost,  having  no  instructions,  could  only 
reply,  as  he  did,  to  the  effect  —  that  his  government  would,  doubtless, 
if  it  should  determine  to  keep  up  the  settlement,  satisfy  any  claims  of 
the  North- West  Company  which  might  be  conformable  with  justice 
and  the  usages  of  civilized  .nations.  After  a  few  days  more  spent 
on  the  Columbia,  the  Blossom  quitted  the  river  with  Mr.  Prevost, 
whom  she  carried  to  Peru,  the  post  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the 
British  traders,  who  have  ever  since  continued  to  occupy  it. 

Whilst  these  measures  for  the  restitution  of  Astoria  were  in 
progress,  a  negotiation  was  carried  on,  at  London,  between  the 
plenipotentiaries  of  the  American  and  British  governments,  for  the 
definitive  arrangement  of  many  questions  which  were  left  unsettled 
by  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  including  those  relating  to  the  boundaries 
of  the  territories  of  the  two  nations  west  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods.* 
Messrs.  Rush  and  Gallatin,  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the  United 
States,  proposed  —  that  the  dividing  line  between  those  territories 
should  be  drawn  from  the  north-western  extremity  of  that  lake, 
north  or  south,  as  the  case  might  require,  to  the  49th  parallel 
of  latitude,  and  thence  along  that  parallel  west  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  The  British  commissioners,  Messrs.  Goulburn  and  Robin- 
son, after  a  discussion  in  which  they  endeavored  to  secure  to  British 
subjects  the  right  of  access  to  the  Mississippi,  and  of  navigatinii 
that  river,  agreed  to  admit  the  line  proposed  as  far  west  as  the 
Rocky  Mountains ;  and  an  article  to  that  effect  was  accordingly 
inserted  in  the  projct  of  a  convention. 

The  claims  of  the  respective  nations  to  territories  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  were  then  considered.  Messrs.  Rush  and  Galla- 
tin "  did  not  assert  that  the  United  States  had  a  perfect  right  to  that 
country,  but  insisted  that  their  claim  was  at  least  good  against  Great 
Britain  ;  "  and  they  cited,  in  support  of  that  claim,  the  facts  of  the 
discovery  of  the  Columbia  River,  of  the  first  exploration  from  its 
sources  to  its  mouth,  and  of  the  formation  of  the  first  establishments 
in  the  country  through  which  it  flows,  by  American  citizens. 
Messrs.  Goulburn  and  Robinson,  on  the  other  hand,  affirmed  "  that 
former  voyages,  and  principally  that  of  Captain  Cook,  gave  to 
Great  Britain  the  rights  derived  from  discovery  ;  and  they  alluded  to 


*  President  Monroe's  message  to  Congress,  with  the  accompanying  documents, 
sent  December  29th,  1818. 


i,(i 


smpanying  document*, 


1818.]     CONVENTION    OF    UNITED    STATES    AND    GREAT    BRITAIN.      315 

purchases  from  the  natives  south  of  the  Columbia,  which  they 
alleged  to  have  been  made  prior  to  the  American  revolution. 
They  did  not  make  any  formal  proposition  for  a  boundary,  but 
intimated  that  the  river  itself  was  the  most  convenient  which  could 
be  adopted ;  and  that  they  would  not  agree  to  any  which  did  not 
give  them  the  harbor  at  the  mouth  of  that  river,  in  common  with 
the  United  States." 

It  is  needless  here  to  repeat  the  proofs  that  Cook  saw  no  part  of 
the  west  coast  of  America  south  of  Mount  San  Jacinto,  near  the 
57th  degree  of  latitude,  which  had  not  been  already  explored  by 
the  Spaniards ;  with  regard  to  the  purchases  from  the  natives 
south  of  the  Columbia,  alleged  to  have  been  made  by  British 
subjects  prior  to  the  revolution,  history  is  entirely  silent.  The  de- 
termination expressed  on  the  part  of  the  British  government  not  to 
assent  to  ai.y  arrangement  which  did  not  give  to  Great  Britain  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  was  at  least  unequivocal,  and  was  sufficient 
to  show  that  all  arguments  on  the  American  side  would  be  unavailing. 
It  was,  accordingly,  at  length  agreed  that  all  territories  and  their 
waters,  claimed  by  either  power,  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
should  be  free  and  open  to  the  vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects,  of 
both  for  the  space  of  ten  years ;  provided,  however,  that  no  claim 
of  either,  or  of  any  other  nation,  to  any  part  of  those  territories, 
should  be  prejudiced  by  the  arrangement. 

This  convention  having  been  completed,  it  was  signed  by  the 
plenipotentiaries  on  the  20th  of  October,  1818,  and  was  soon  after 
ratified  by  the  governments  of  both  nations.*  The  compromise 
contained  in  its  third  article,  with  regard  to  the  territories  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  was,  perhaps,  the  most  wise,  as  well  as  the 
most  equitable,  measure  which  could  have  been  adopted  at  that 
tune  ;  considering  that  neither  party  pretended  to  possess  a  perfect 
title  to  the  sovereignty  of  any  of  those  territories,  and  that  there 
was  no  prospect  of  the  speedy  conclusion  of  any  arrangement  with 
regard  to  them,  between  either  party  and  the  other  claimants, 
Spain  and  Russia.  The  agreement  could  not  certainly,  at  the 
time,  have  been  considered  unfavorable  to  the  United  States ;  for, 
although  the  North- West  Company  held  the  whole  trade  of  the 
Columbia  country,  yet  the  important  post  at  the  mouth  of  that 
river  was  restored  to  the  Americans  without  reservation,  and  there 
was  every  reason  for  supposing  that  it  would  be  immediately  re- 

*  See  the  third  article  of  the  convention  of  October,  1818,  among  the  Proofs  and 
Illustrations,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  History,  under  the  letter  K,  No.  2. 


1:';  I 


M'j; 


i| 


i:,i!l^ 


m 

<       ■      i  'I 


;i  'M^ 


M 


'!  .1 


f'ti'J. 


4  1^."  -I  ! 


,y  ? 


316 


FLORIDA   TREATY    BETWEEN    U.    STATES    AND    SPAIN.      [1818. 


occupied  by  its  founders :  and  it  seemed,  moreover,  evident  that 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States  would  enjoy  many  and  great 
advantages  over  all  other  people  in  the  country  in  question,  in  con- 
sequence of  their  superior  facilities  of  access  to  it,  especially  since 
the  introduction  of  steam  vessels  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  branches. 

In  the  same  year,  a  negotiation  was  carried  on  at  Washington, 
between  the  governments  of  the  United  States  and  Spain,  in  which 
the  question  of  boundaries  on  the  north-west  side  of  America  was 
likewise  discussed.  The  Spanish  minister,  Don  Luis  de  Onis, 
began  by  declaring  that  "  the  right  and  dominion  of  the  crown  of 
Spain  to  the  north-west  coast  of  America  as  high  as  the  Californias, 
is  certain  and  indisputable  ;  the  Spaniards  having  explored  it  as  far 
as  the  47th  degree,  in  the  expedition  under  Juan  de  Fuca,  in  1592, 
and  in  that  under  Admiral  Fonte,  to  the  55th  degree,  in  1640.  The 
dominion  of  Spain  in  these  vast  regions  being  thus  established,  and 
her  rights  of  discovery,  conquest,  and  possession,  being  never  dis- 
puted, she  could  scarcely  possess  a  property  founded  on  more  re- 
spectable principles,  whether  of  the  law  of  nations,  of  public  law,  or 
of  any  others  which  serve  as  a  basis  to  such  acquisitions  as  compose 
all  the  indf  per  'ent  kingdoms  and  states  of  the  earth."  Upon  these 
positive  asst  I  ,  he  American  plenipotentiary,  Mr.  J.  Q.  Adams, 
secretary  of  /  ,  did  not  consider  himself  required  to  offer  any 
comment ;  and  the  origin,  extent,  and  value,  of  the  claims  of  Spain 
to  the  nortli-western  portion  of  America  remained  unquestioned 
during  the  discussion.  The  negotiation  was  broken  off  in  the  early 
part  of  the  year,  soon  after  its  commencement ;  it  was,  however, 
renewed,  and  was  terminated  on  the  22d  of  February,  1819,  by  a 
treaty  commonly  called  the  Florida  treaty,  in  which  the  southern 
boundaries  of  the  United  States  were  definitively  fixed.  Spain 
ceded  Florida  to  the  American  republic,  which  relinquished  all 
claims  to  urritories  west  of  the  River  Sabine,  and  south  of  the 
upper  parts  of  the  Red  and  the  Arkansas  Rivers ;  and  it  was 
agreed  that  a  line  drawn  on  the  meridian  from  the  source  of  the 
Arkansas  northward  to  the  4-^d  parallel  of  latitude,  and  thence 
along  that  parallel  westward  to  the  Pacific,  should  form  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  Sj>anis!i  possessions,  and  the  southern 
boundary  of  those  of  the  United  States,  in  that  quarter,  —  "  His 
Catholic  majesty  ceding  to  the  United  States  all  his  rights,  claims, 
and  pretensions,  to  any  territories  nortii  of  the  said  line." 

The  provisions  of  this  treaty,  particularly  those  relating  to  limits, 
appear  to  have  been  as  nearly  just  as  any  which  could  have  been 


►  SPAIN.     [1818. 


1818.] 


TREATY    BETWEEN    THE    UNITED    STATES    AND    SPAIN. 


317 


framed ;  and,  as  an  almost  necessary  consequence,  they  were  not 
received  with  general  satisfaction  by  either  nation.  The  Spanish 
government  withheld  its  ratification  of  the  treaty  for  nearly  two 
years ;  and  within  a  year  after  that  ratification  had  been  made,  the 
authority  of  Spain  was  extinguished  in  every  portion  of  America 
which  she  had  formerly  possessed  contiguous  to  the  boundary  thus 
established  in  1819.*  The  territories  immediately  adjoining  that 
boundary  on  the  south,  including  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Califor- 
nia, then  became  attached  to  the  Mexican  republic,  with  which 
power  the  United  States  subsequently  concluded  a  treaty  confirm- 
ing the  limits  settled  with  Spain. 

With  regard  to  the  extent  of  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  the  validity  of  the  title  to  it  thus  acquired  by  the 
United  States,  it  will  be  convenient  here  to  introduce  some  observa- 
tions :  as  the  British  government  has  since  maintained  that  the  only 
riglits  possessed  by  the  United  States  in  that  part  of  America  are 
those  derived  from  Spain  through  the  Florida  treaty ;  and  that  they 
are  merely  the  rights  secured  to  Spain,  in  common  with  Great 
Britain,  in  1790,  by  the  Nootka  convention. 


♦ 


ii. 


i. 


Ii 


«'■•  '''1 


i;''  I 


I 


*  The  third  article  of  the  Florida  treaty,  defining  the  boundary  as  settled,  will  be 
found  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  in  the  latter  part  of  this  volume,  under  the 
letter  K,  No.  3.  The  whole  correspondence  is  contained  in  the  documents  accompa- 
nying President  Monroe's  message  to  Congress  of  February  22d,  1819.  Great  skill,  as 
well  as  knowledge  of  the  suhject,  is  displiiyed  in  the  notes  of  each  of  the  plenipoten- 
tiaries, particularly  in  those  of  Mr.  Adams,  who  moreover  exhibits,  in  every  part,  that 
earnestness  arising  from  profound  conviction  of  the  justice  of  his  cause,  which  has  so 
much  weight  even  in  diplomacy. 

Many  curious  facts  relative  to  the  negotiation  have  subsequently  been  brought  to 
light,  especially  in  the  Memoir  published  by  the  Spanish  plenipotentiary,  in  his  defence, 
after  his  return  to  Spain,  in  1820.  He  there  shows  clearly,  that  he  was  by  no  means 
convinced  that  the  territory  in  dispute  beyond  the  Sabine  did  not  properly  form  a  part 
of  Louisiana;  and  he  declares  expressly,  that  his  principal  object  in  the  long  corre- 
spondence wiiich  he  kept  up  on  tiiat  subject,  was  to  gain  time.  In  fact,  during  the 
summer  of  1818,  while  the  correspondence  was  partially  suspended,  (with  the  same 
object  of  gaining  time,  no  lU  ubt,)  the  Spanish  government  formally  applied  to  that  of 
Great  Britain  for  aid,  or  at  least  for  its  mediation,  in  the  aft'air;  to  which  Lord  Castle- 
reagh  immediately  and  decidedly  answered  in  tiie  negative,  at  the  same  time  advising 
the  Spanish  government  to  cede  Florida  to  the  United  States,  and  to  make  any  other 
arrangement  which  might  be  deemed  proper,  ivithoiit  ikliiij.  The  Chevalier  de  Onis, 
in  his  Memoir,  claims  the  praise  of  his  nation  for  having  exchanged,  the  small  and  com- 
paratively unimportant  province  of  Florida  for  the  rich  and  productive  territory  of 
Texas.  "  I  will  agree,"  he  adds,  "  that  the  third  article  might,  with  greater  clearness, 
have  been  expressed  thus  — '  /«  cx.chunge  the  United  States  cede  to  his  Catholic  majesty 
the  province  of  Texas,'  &c. — but  as  I  had  been  for  three  years  maintaining,  in  the 
lengthened  correspondence  herein  inserted,  that  this  province  belonged  to  the  king,  it 
would  have  been  a  contradiction  to  express,  in  the  treaty,  that  the  United  States  cede 
it  to  his  majesty." 


'■11 
1    ■  ' 


■;■!!' 


tt 


am- 


■4 


W'   1' 


f  J 


:        I'  ^      K 


318 


DURATTON    OF    THE    NOOTKA    OONVKNTION. 


[1819. 


That  the  Nootka  convention  expired  on  the  declaration  of  war  by 
Spain  against  Great  Britain  in  1796,  and  conld  not  have  been  after 
tlmt  period  in  force,  except  in  virtue  of  a  distinct  and  formal  renewal 
by  the  same  parties  —  is  consonant  with  the  universal  practice  of  civ- 
ilized nations,  and  especially  of  Great  Britain,  as  manifested  during 
the  well-known  negotiations  between  her  government  and  that  of 
the  United  States,  in   1915,  respecting  the  Newfoundland  fishery. 
Mr.  Adams,  the  American  plenipotentiary,  on  that  occasion,  insisted 
that  his  countrymen  should  continue,  not  only  to  fish  on  the  Banks 
of  Newfoundland,  but  also  to  land  on  the  British  American  coasts 
for  the  same  purpoF  ,  as  they  had  done  before  the  war  of  1812,  by 
the  treaty  of  1783,  although  that  treaty  had  not  been  renewed  by 
the  treaty  of  Ghent,  at  the  termination  of  the  war  —  upon  the  ground 
that  the  treaty  of  1783,  by  which  Great  Britain  acknowledged  the 
independence  of  the  United  States,  was  "  of  a  peculiar  nature,  and 
bore,  in  that  nature,  a  character  of  permanency,  not  subject,  like  many 
of  the  ordinary  contracts  between  independent  nations,  to  abrogation 
by  a  subsequent  war  between  the  same  parties."     To  this  the  British 
minister.  Lord  Bathurst,  answered,  that,  "  if  the  United  States  derived 
from  the  treaty  of  1783  privileges  from  which  other  independent 
nations,  not  admitted  by  treaty,  were  excluded,  the  duration  of  those 
privileges  must  depend  on  the  duration  of  the  instrument  by  wliicli 
they  were  granted ;  and  if  the  war  abrogated  the  treaty,  it  deter- 
mined the  privileges.     It  has  been  urged,  indeed,"  continues  his 
lordship,  "  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  that  the  treaty  of  1783 
was  of  a  peculiar  nature,  and  that,  because  it  contained  a  recognition 
of  American  independence,  it  could  not  be  abrogated  by  a  subse- 
quent war  between  the  parties.     To  a  position  of  this  novel  nature 
Great  Britain  cannot  accede.     She  Icnoivs  of  no  exception  to  the  rule, 
that  all  treaties  are  put  an  end  to  by  a  subsequent  war  between  the 
same  parties :  she  cannot,  therefore,  consent  to  give  to  her  diplo- 
matic relations  with  one  state  a  different  degree  of  permanency 
from  that  on  which  her  connection  with  all  other  states  depends. 
Nor  can  she   consider  any  one   state   at  liberty   to   assign   to  a 
treaty,    made  with  her,   such   a  peculiarity  of  character,  as   shall 
make  it,  as  to  duration,  an  exception  to  all  other  treaties,  in  order 
to  found  on  a  peculiarity  thus  assumed  an   irrevocable  title  to  all 
indulgences  which  have  all  the  features  of  temporary  concessions." 
The  British  minister,  indeed,  admitted  that  recognitions  of  right 
in  a  treaty  might  be  considered  as  perpetual  obligations :  and,  refer- 
ring to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  1783,  he  showed  that  the  right  of 


1819.] 


THE    NOOTKA    CONVENTION    EXPIRED    IN    1796. 


319 


the  Americans  to  fish  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland  (that  is  to  say, 
in  the  open  sea)  was  there  distinctly  acknowledged,  while  the  liberty 
to  use  the  British  coasts  for  the  same  purpose  was  conceded  to  them ; 
and  that,  although  the  right  subsisted  in  virtue  of  the  independence 
of  the  United  States,  the  liberty  expired  on  the  declaration  of  war 
in  1812,  and  could  not  again  be  enjoyed,  without  the  express  con- 
sent of  Great  Britain.  It  may  be  added  that  the  position  thus 
assumed  by  the  British  government  was  maintained  throughout  the 
negotiation ;  at  the  end  of  which,  the  liberty  to  take  and  cure  fish 
on  certain  parts  of  the  British  American  coasts,  so  long  as  they 
should  remain  unsettled,  was  secured  to  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  in  common  with  British  siibjects,  forever,  by  the  first  article 
of  the  convention  of  October  20th,  1818.* 

Applying  to  the  Nootka  convention  the  rule  thus  enforced  by 
Great  Britain  in  1815,  with  all  its  exceptions  in  their  widest  sense, 
there  can  be  no  question  that  this  compact  was  entirely  abrogated 
by  the  war  between  that  power  and  Spain,  begun  in  October,  1796. 
On  analyzing  the  convention,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  first,  second, 
and  eighth  articles  relate  exclusively  to  certain  acts,  which  were  to 
be  forthwith  performed  by  one  or  both  of  the  parties,  and  which 
having  been  performed,  as  they  all  were,  before  1796,  those  articles 
became  dead  letters.  By  the  third,  article,  "  it  is  agreed,  in  order  to 
strengthen  the  bonds  of  friendship,  and  to  preserve,  in  future,  a  perfect 
harmony  and  good  understanding  betiveen  the  two  contracting  parties," 
that  their  respective  subjects  shall  not  be  disturbed  or  molested  in 
navigating  or  fishing  in  the  Pacific  or  Southern  Oceans,  or  in  land- 
ing on  the  coasts  of  those  seas  in  places  not  already  occupiejl,  "for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  on  their  commerce  with  the  natives  of  the 
country,  or  of  making  settlements  there ;  "  under  certain  restrictions, 
nevertheless,  to  the  specification  of  which  the  fourth,  fifth,  and 
sixth  articles  are  entirely  devoted:  the  remaining  seventh  article 
merely  indicating  the  course  to  be  pursued  in  cases  of  infraction  of 
the  others.  The  Nootka  convention  thus  contains  nothing  which 
can  be  construed  as  a  perpetual  obligation,  no  assertion  or  recogni- 
tion of  right,  which  can  be  deemed  irrevocable ;  but  is,  as  a  whole, 
and  in  each  of  its  separate  stipulations,  a  concession,  or  series  of 
concessions.  To  navigate  and  fish  in  the  open  sea,  and  to  trade 
and  settle  on  coasts  unoccupied  by  any  civilized  nation,  are  indeed 
rights  claimed   by  all  civilized  nations:    Spain,  however,  did  not 


-♦' 


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1    ■    1  ■ 

ll:;.l 


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),.; 


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*  Correspondence  annexed  to  Prceident  Monroe's  message  to  Congress  of  Decem- 
ber 2Dth,  1818. 


lit'"  h 


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4. 


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320 


THE    NOOTKA    CONVENTION    KXPIRED    IN    1796. 


[1819. 


acknowledge  these  rights  as  existing  in  any  other  power  with 
regard  to  the  Pacific  and  Southern  Oceans  and  their  American 
coasts ;  and,  by  the  Nootka  convention,  she  merely  engaged  to 
desist  from  the  exercise  of  privileges  claimed  by  her  in  those  seas 
and  coasts,  so  far  as  British  subjects  might  be  affected  by  them, 
on  condition  tliat  Great  Britain  should  desist  from  the  exercise  of 
privileges  claimed  by  her,  in  the  same  quarters  of  the  world.  After 
the  abrogation  of  the  convention  by  war,  each  nation  might  again 
assert  and  exercise  the  privileges  claimed  by  it  before  the  conclusion 
of  the  compact ;  and  neither  could  be  regjirdcd  as  bound  by  any 
of  the  restrictions  defined  in  tliJit  instrument,  until  they  had  been 
formally  renewed  by  express  consent  of  both  the  original  parties. 

The  war  begun  by  Spain  against  Great  Britain,  in  1796,  con- 
tinued, with  the  intermission  of  the  two  years  of  uncertainty  suc- 
ceeding the  peace  of  Amiens,  until  1809,  when  those  nations  were 
again  allied,  in  opposition  to  France.  Since  that  period,  they  have 
remained  constantly  at  peace  with  each  other.  The  only  engage- 
ment made  between  them  for  the  renewal  of  treaties  subsisting 
before  1796,  is  contained  in  the  first  of  the  three  additional  articles 
to  the  treaty  of  Madrid,  signed  on  the  '24th  of  August,  1314,  wherein 
"  It  is  as'recd  that,  pending  the  negotiation  of  a  neiv  treaty  of  com- 
merce, Great  Britain  shall  be  admitted  to  trade  ivith  Spain,  upon  the 
same  conditions  as  those  tvhich  existed  previously  to  1796 ;  all  the 
treaties  of  commerce,  which  at  that  period  subsisted  between  the  two 
nations,  being  hereby  ratified  and  confirmed^  Thus  the  Nootka 
convention  could  not  have  been  in  force  at  any  time  between  Octo- 
ber, 1796,  and  August,  1814;  nor  since  that  period,  unless  it  were 
renewed  by  the  additional  article  above  quoted.  That  the  first  part 
of  this  article  related  only  to  trade  between  the  European  dominions 
of  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  is  certain,  because  no  trade  had  ever 
been  allowed,  by  treaty  or  otherwise,  between  either  kingdom,  or  its 
colonies,  and  the  colonies  of  the  other,  except  in  the  single  case  of 
the  ^s?'t7/^o,  concluded  in  171.3,  and  abrogated  in  1740,  agreeably 
to  which  the  British  South  Sea  Company  supplied  the  Spanish 
colonies  with  negro  slaves  during  that  period ;  and  because,  more- 
over, by  an  article  in  the  treaty  of  Madrid,  to  which  the  above- 
quoted  article  is  additional,  " /n  the  event  of  the  commerce  of  the 
Spanish  American  colonies  being  oyened.  to  foreign  nations,  his 
Catholic  majesty  promises  that  Great  Britain  shall  be  admitted  to 
trade  with  those  possess^'ons,  as  the  most  favored  nation."  The  second 
part  of  the  additional  article  is  evidently  intended  merely  in  confir- 


\      ; 


1819.J  THE    NOOTKA    CONVENTION    EXPIRED    IN    1796. 


321 


mation  and  completion  of  the  first,  which  would  otherwise  have  want- 
ed the  requisite  degree  of  precision ;  and  it  certainly  could  not  have 
embraced  the  convention  of  1790,  except  so  far  as  related  to  the 
commerce  of  each  of  the  parties  on  the  unoccupied  coasts  of  Amer- 
ica, and  the  settlements  made  by  each  for  that  special  purpose. 

Had  the  convention  of  1790  been  expressly  renewed  and  con- 
firmed in  1814,  it  would  still  have  been  inoperative,  except  with 
regard  to  subjects  and  establishments  of  the  contracting  parties. 
The  governments  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain  might  have  again 
agreed  that  their  subjects  should  reciprocally  enjoy  liberty  of  access 
and  trade,  in  all  establishments  which  either  might  form  on  the 
north-west  coasts  of  America ;  but  neither  power  could  have  claimed 
such  rights  in  places  on  those  coasts  then  occupied  by  a  third  nation. 

It  has  been  already  shown  that,  after  the  abandonment  of  Nootka 
Sound  by  the  Spaniards,  in  March,  1795,  no  settlement  was  made, 
or  attempted,  by  them  in  any  of  the  countries  on  the  western  side 
of  America  north  of  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco ;  and  that,  during 
the  period  between  that  year  and  1814,  many  establishments  were 
formed  in  those  countries  by  Russians,  British,  and  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  The  Russians  extended  their  posts  from  Aliaska 
eastward  to  Sitka,  and  even  fixed  themselves  within  a  few  miles  of 
the  Bay  of  San  Francisco.  The  British  founded  their  first  establish- 
ment west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  1806,  on  the  upper  waters 
of  Eraser's  River,  near  the  54th  degree  of  latitude.  The  Columbia 
was  surveyed  by  order  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  with 
a  view  to  its  occupation,  in  1805 ;  and  their  citizens  made  estab- 
lishments on  that  river  successively  in  1808,  1810,  and  1811,  of 
which  the  principal  were,  in  1813,  taken  by  the  British,  and  in 
1818,  restored  to  the  Americans,  agreeably  to  the  treaty  of  Ghent. 
Under  such  circumstances,  the  title  of  Spain  to  the  countries  north 
of  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  however  strong  it  may  have  been  in 
1790  or  1796,  in  virtue  of  discoveries  and  settlements,  must  be 
allowed  to  have  become  considerably  weaker  in  1819,  from  disuse, 
and  from  submission  to  the  acts  of  occupation  by  other  powers. 
Thus,  whilst  it  may  be  doubted  th&t  either  of  those  powers  could 
in  justice  claim  the  sovereignty  of  the  country  occupied  by  its  sub- 
jects without  the  consent  of  Spain,  the  latter  could  not  have  claimed 
the  exclusive  possession  of  such  country,  or  have  entered  into  com- 
pacts with  a  third  power,  respecting  trade,  navigation,  or  settlement, 
in  it,  agreeably  to  any  recognized  principle  of  national  law.  Still 
less  could  Great  Britain  have  claimed  the  right  to  exclude  other 
41 


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332 


LONG  S    EXPEDITION    TO   THE    ROCKY    MOUNTAINS. 


[1819. 


IWl 


nations  from  the  sovereignty  of  the  regions  traversed  by  the  Co- 
lumbia, in  which  her  subjects  had  made  no  discoveries,  and  wliicli 
had  been  first  occupied  by  the  United  States,  unless  upon  the 
ground  of  conquest  during  war ;  and  this  ground  became  untena!)le 
after  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  as  distinctly  acknowledged  by  the  British 
government  in  the  fact  of  the  restoration  of  Astoria. 

Thus,  whilst  the  title  to  the  countries  north  of  the  42d  parallel 
of  latitude,  derived  by  the  United  States  from  Spain,  through  the 
Florida  treaty,  was  undoubtedly  imperfect,  —  though  not  from  any 
possible  effect  of  the  Nootka  convention,  as  insisted  by  the  British 
government  in  1826,  —  yet  that  title,  in  addition  to  those  previously 
possessed  by  the  Americans,  in  virtue  of  their  discoveries  and  set- 
tlements in  the  Columbia  countries,  appears  to  constitute  a  right  of 
occupation  in  their  favor,  stronger  than  could  be  alleged  by  any 
other  nation,  if  not  amounting  to  an  absolute  right  of  sovereignty. 

Immediately  after  the  signature  of  the  Florida  treaty,  an  expedi- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  country  drained  by  the 
Missouri  and  its  branches  was  organized  by  Mr.  Calhoun,  then 
secretary  of  war  of  the  United  States,  on  a  scale  of  equipment 
more  complete,  in  every  respect,  than  any  of  those  previously  made 
to  that  part  of  America.  The  party,  comprising  a  large  number  of 
officers,  men  of  science,  soldiers,  and  other  persons,  under  the 
command  of  Major  Stephen  Long,  quitted  Pittsburg  on  the  SOth 
of  May,  1819,  in  a  steam  vessel  which  had  been  specially  con- 
structed for  the  purpose,  and  pursued  their  route  down  the  Ohio, 
and  up  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  examining  many  interestinj^ 
points  in  their  way,  as  far  as  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  last-mentioned 
river,  eight  hundred  and  fifty  miles  above  its  confluence  with  the 
Mississippi.  Near  this  place  they  spent  the  winter,  and  lost  several 
of  their  men  from  scurvy  ;  and,  in  the  spring  of  1820,  orders  were 
received  from  Washington,  in  consequence  of  which,  many  of  the 
objects  proposed  were  abandoned,  and  the  operations  were  re- 
stricted to  tracing  the  Platte  and  Arkansas  Rivers  to  their  sources. 
They  accordingly,  in  June,  proceeded  up  the  valley  of  the  Platte,  a 
very  shallow  stream,  as  its  name  imports,  to  the  confluence  of  its 
north  and  south  branches  or  forks,  distant  about  three  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  from  its  mouth,  and  then  continued  along  the  south 
fork,  to  its  sources  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  near  the  40th  degree 
of  latitude.  Here,  on  the  13th  of  July,  Dr.  James,  the  botanist  of 
the  expedition,  ascended  a  mountain,  named  after  him  James's 
Peak,  the  height  of  which  ."as  estimated,  though  on  data  by  no 


'\p 


rsons,  under  the 


1820.]     STERILITY    or    THE    CENTRAL    REGIONS    OF    AMERICA.  333 

means  sufficient,  at  not  less  than  eight  thousand  five  hundred  feet 
above  the  ocean  level ;  and  then,  striking  the  head-waters  of  th*? 
Arkansas,  which  also  flows  from  the  same  mountain,  they  de- 
scended the  valley  of  that  river  to  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi. 
Much  information  was  obtained,  through  this  expedition,  respect- 
ing the  geography,  natural  history,  and  aboriginal  inhabitants,  of 
the  countries  traversed,  all  of  which  was  communicated  to  the 
world  in  an  exact  and  perspicuous  narrative,  published  by  D**. 
James  in  18^3.  One  most  important  fact,  in  a  political  point  of 
view,  was  completely  established  by  the  observations  of  the  party ; 
namely,  that  the  whole  division  of  North  America,  drained  by  the 
Missouri  and  the  Arkansas,  and  their  tributaries,  between  the 
meridian  of  the  mouth  of  the  Platte  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  is 
almost  entirely  unfit  for  cultivation,  and  therefore  uninhabitable  by 
a  people  depending  upon  agriculture  for  their  subsistence.  The 
portion  of  this  territory  within  five  hundred  miles  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  on  the  east,  extending  from  the  39th  to  the  49th  paral- 
lels of  latitude,  was  indeed  found  to  be  a  desert  of  sand  and 
stones ;  and  subsequent  observations  have  shown  the  adjoining 
regions,  to  a  great  distance  west  of  those  mountains,  to  be  still 
more  arid  and  sterile.  These  circumstances,  as  they  became  known 
through  the  United  States,  rendered  the  people  and  their  repre- 
sentatives in  the  federal  legislature  more  and  more  indifferent  with 
re<^ard  to  the  territories  on  the  north-western  side  of  the  continent. 
It  became  always  difficult,  and  generally  impossible,  to  engage  the 
attention  of  Congress  to  any  matters  connected  with  those  countries  : 
emigrants  from  the  populous  states  of  the  Union  would  not  banish 
themselves  to  the  distant  shores  of  the  Pacific,  whilst  they  could 
obtain  the  best  lands  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  branches  at  mod- 
erate prices ;  and  capitalists  would  not  vest  their  funds  in  establish- 
ments for  the  administration  and  continued  possession  of  which 
they  could  have  no  guarantee.  From  1813  until  1823,  few,  if 
any,  American  citizens  were  employed  in  the  countries  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains ;  and  ten  years  more  elapsed  before  any  settle- 
ment was  formed,  or  even  attempted,  by  them  in  that  part  of  the 
world. 

Ciianges  were,  about  the  same  time,  made  in  the  system  of  the 
British  trade  in  the  northern  parts  of  America,  which  led  to  the 
most  important  political  and  commercial  results. 

Frequent  allusions  have  been  already  made  to  the  enmity  svibsist- 
ing  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  North- West  Compuaies. 


■♦' 


'1 

■V 

,   ■'     ■ 

I  ■  I 


f' 


,  ;   1  '■   ; 
■  ■^  ;    . 

h   ' 

M  '■■ 

l\ 

H'[l'"'i- ' 

" ! 

t      , 
1 

i 

'      ! 
;l 

It': 


\ ' ' 


lull 


r-  '. 


324 


DISPUTES    OF    BItlTISH    f'UR    COMPANIES. 


[1816. 


This  feeling  was  displayed  only  in  words,  or  in  the  commission  of 
petty  acts  of  injury  or  annoyance  by  each  against  the  other,  until 
1814,  when  a  regular  war  broke  out  between  the  parties,  which 
was,  for  some  time  after,  openly  carried  on.  The  scene  of  the 
hostilities  was  the  territory  traversed  by  the  Red  River  of  Hudson's 
Bay  and  its  branches,  in  which  Lord  Selkirk,  a  Scotch  nobleman, 
had,  in  1811,  obtained  from  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  a  grant 
of  not  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  square  miles,  for  the  establish- 
ment of  agricultural  colonies.  The  validity  of  this  grant  was 
denied  by  the  North- West  Company,  to  which  the  proposed  occu- 
pation of  the  territory  in  question  would  have  been  absolutely 
ruinous,  as  the  routes  from  Canada  to  the  north-western  trading 
posts  ran  through  it,  and  from  it  were  obtained  nearly  all  the  pro- 
visions consumed  at  those  posts.  The  British  government,  however, 
appeared  to  favor  and  protect  Lord  Selkirk's  project,  and  a  large 
number  of  Scotch  Highlanders  were,  without  opposition,  established 
on  Red  River,  the  country  about  which  received,  in  1812,  the 
name  of  Ossinobia.  For  two  years  after  the  formation  of  the  set- 
tlement, peace  was  maintained;  at  length,  in  January,  1814,  Miles 
Macdonnel,  the  governor  of  the  new  province,  issued  a  proclama- 
tion, in  which  he  set  forth  the  limits  of  the  region  claimed  by  his 
patron,  and  prohibited  all  persons,  under  pain  of  seizure  and 
prosecution,  from  carrying  out  of  it  "  any  provisions,  either  of  flesh. 
dried  meat,  grain,  or  vegetables,"  during  that  year.  The  attempts 
to  enforce  this  prohibition  were  resisted  by  the  North- West  traders, 
who  appeared  so  resolute  in  their  determination  not  to  yield,  that 
the  colonists  became  alarmed,  and  quitted  the  country,  some  of 
them  returning  to  Canada,  and  others  emigrating  to  the  United 
States.  In  the  following  year.  Lord  Selkirk  again  sent  settlers  of 
various  nations  to  the  Red  River,  between  whom  and  the  North- 
West  people  hostilities  were  immediately  begun.  Posts  were  taken 
and  destroyed  on  both  sides;  and,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1816,  a 
battle  was  fought,  in  which  the  Ossinobians  were  routed,  and 
seventeen  of  their  number,  including  their  governor,  Mr.  Semple, 
were  killed.  The  country  was  then  again  abandoned  by  the 
settlers.* 

These  affairs  were  brought  before  the  British  Parliament  in  June, 

•  Lord  Selkirk's  Sketch  of  the  British  Fur  Trade  in  jYorth  .America,  publishpd  in 
1816,  and  the  review  of  it  iii  the  London  Quarterly  Review  for  October,  1816  — 
Jfarrative  of  the  Occurrences  in  the  Indian  Countries  of  America,  published  by  the 
North- West  Company  in  1817,  containing  all  the  documents  on  the  subject. 


liament  in  June, 


1821.]      JUBISUICTION    OF    THE    CANADA    COIIITS    EXTENDED.  .325 

1819;  and  a  debate  ensued,  m  the  course  of  which  the  proceedings 
of  the  two  rival  associations  were  minutely  investigated.  The 
ministry  then  interposed  its  mediation,  and  a  compromise  was  thus 
at  length  eftected,  by  which  the  North- West  Company  became 
united  with,  or  rather  merged  in,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  At 
the  same  time,  and  in  connection  with  this  arrangement,  an  "  ac^ 
for  regulating  the  fur  trade  and  establishing  a  criminal  and  civil 
jurisdiction  in  certain  parts  of  North  America "  was  passed  in 
Parliament,  containing  every  provision  recjuired  to  give  stability  to 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  and  efficiency  to  its  operations. 

By  this  act,  passed  on  the  2d  of  July,  1821,  the  king  was 
authorized  to  make  grants  or  give  licenses  to  any  body  corporate, 
company,  or  person,  for  the  exclusive  privilege  of  trading  with  tne 
jiuiians,  in  all  such  parts  of  North  America  as  mny  be  specified 
in  the  grants,  not  being  parts  of  the  territories  previously  granted 
to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  or  of  any  of  his  majesty's  provinces 
in  North  America,  or  any  territories  belonging  to  the  United  States 
nf  America :  provided,  however,  that  no  such  grant  or  license  shall 
be  given  for  a  longer  period  than  twenty-one  years  ;  that  no  grant 
or  license  for  exclusive  trade,  in  the  part  of  America  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  which,  by  the  convention  of  1818  with  the  United 
States,  remained  free  and  open  to  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  both 
nations,  shall  be  used  to  the  prejudice  or  exclusion  of  citizens  of 
the  United  States  engaged  in  such  trade;  and  that  no  British  sub- 
ject shall  trade  in  those  territories  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
without  such  license  or  grant.  By  the  same  act,  also,  the  courts  of 
jiKJicature  of  Upper  Canada  are  empowered  to  take  cognizanco  of 
all  causes,  civil  or  criminal,  arising  in  any  of  the  abovf-mentioned 
territories,  including  those  previously  granted  to  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  and  '^^  other  parts  of  America,  not  within  the  limits  of 
either  of  the  provinces  of  Upper  or  Lower  Canada,  or  of  any  civil 
government  of  the  United  States ;  "  and  justices  of  the  peace  are  to 
be  commissioned  in  those  territories,  to  execute  and  enforce  the 
laws  and  the  decisions  of  the  courts,  to  take  evidence,  and  commit 
offenders  and  send  them  for  trial  to  Canada,  and  even,  under  cer- 
tain circumstances,  to  hold  courts  themselves,  for  the  trial  of  crimi- 
nal offences  and  misdemeanors  not  punishable  by  death,  and  of 
civil  causes,  in  which  the  amount  at  issue  should  not  exceed  two 
hundred  pounds.* 


♦' 


('I 


M    I 


^11 


I  I' 


r, 


•'1  (• 


fir' 


*  Sec  the  act  and  the  grant  hcrr>  mentioned  in  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  at  the 
end  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  I,  No.  2. 


ii.  Ml' 


.  N-' 


M  l'\ 


i  :> 


'.■;• !, 


It;- J: 


r 


■Mi 


I;        I 


n 


i; 


i   I 


336 


BEAKCH    run    A    NOHTII-WKhT    PASSAGE    RESUMED. 


[18-21. 


Upon  the  pnRsago  of  this  act,  the  union  of  the  two  companies 
was  effected,  an<l  a  grant  was  made,  by  the  king,  to  "  the  governor 
and  company  of  adventurers  trading  to  Hudson's  Bay,  and  to 
WilHam  MacgilHvray,  Simon  Macgillivray,  and  Edward  Elhce,"  the 
persons  so  named,  representing  the  former  proprietors  of  the  North- 
West  Company,*  of  the  exclusive  trade,  for  twenty-one  years,  in  qH 
the  countries  in  which  such  privileges  could  be  granted  agreeably 
to  the  act.  Persons  in  the  service  of  the  company  were,  at  the 
same  time,  commissioned  as  justices  of  the  peace  for  those  coun- 
tries ;  and  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  Upper  Canada  was 
rendered  effective  as  fur  as  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  no  exception 
being  made,  in  that  respect,  by  the  act,  with  regard  to  any  of  the 
territories  embraced  in  the  grant,  ''not  within  the  limits  of  any  civil 
government  of  the  United  States." 

About  this  period,  also,  the  search  for  a  north-west  pn  sage,  or 
navigable  communication  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  PaciiJc, 
north  of  America,  which  had  been  so  long  suspended,  was  resuniij 
by  British  officers,  under  the  auspices  of  their  government ;  and 
expeditions  for  that  object  were  made  through  Baffin's  Bay,  as  wtil 
as  by  land,  through  the  northernmost  parts  of  the  American  conti- 
nent. The  geographical  results  of  these  expeditions  were  lii^'hlv 
interesting,  while,  at  the  some  time,  the  skill,  courage,  and  {nrsi 
verance,  of  the  British  were  honorably  illustrated  by  the  labors  ol 
Ross,  Parry,  Franklin,  and  their  companions.  The  west  coasts  of 
Baffin's  Bay  were  carefully  surveyed,  and  many  passages  leadiiis; 
from  it  towards  the  west  and  south-west,  were  traced  to  considera- 
ble distances.  The  progress  of  the  ships  through  these  passagtj 
was,  however,  in  each  case,  arrested  by  ice ;  and,  although  many 
extensive  portions  of  the  northern  coast  of  the  continent  wcro 
explored,  and  the  Arctic  Sea,  in  their  vicinity,  was  found  5ree  from 
ice  during  the  short  summer,  the  question  respecting  the  existence 
of  a  northern  channel  of  communication  between  th»  .ceanswas 
left  unsolved.  These  voyniros,  independently  of  the  value  of  their 
scientific  results,  also  proved  most  advantageous  to  the  commerce 
of  the  British  throughout  the  whole  of  their  terriluries  in  America, 
as  new  routes  were  opened,  and  new  regioiv.i,  abounding  in  furs, 
were  rendered  accessible. 

The  Russians  were,  in  the  mean  lime,  constantly  increasing  their 

*  In  1824,  the  North-West  Company  surrendered  its  rights  and  interests  to  tlie 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  the  name  of  which  alone  all  the  operations  were  thence- 
forward conducted. 


:^v:i!,-r 


urn  1'. 


BUMED.        [18i2I. 


1815.1 


KUHSIAN    SKTThKMKNTH    IN    CALll'OUNl A. 


337 


trade  in  tlio  Pacific,  and,  in  luUlitinti  to  their  establishments  on  the 
nortlicrnmosf  coasts  of  that  ocean,  they  Imd  taken  possession  of  th«5 
country  a<ljoiiiiii^'  Port  San  Francisco,  which  they  seemed  deter- 
mined, as  well  ns  able,  to  retain.  With  this  object,  Baranof,  the 
cliiof  agent  of  the  Russian  American  Company,  in  1812,  obtained 
from  the  Spanish  govcjrnor  of  California  pern.!  sion  to  erect  some 
houses,  and  to  leave  a  few  men  on  the  shore  of  Bodega  Bay,  a 
little  north  of  Port  San  Francisco,  where  they  were  employed  in 
hunting  the  wild  cattle,  and  drying  meat  for  the  supply  of  Sitka 
and  the  other  settlements.  In  the  course  of  two  or  three  years 
after  this  permission  was  granted,  the  number  of  persons  thus 
employed  became  so  great,  and  their  dwelling  assumed  so  much 
the  appearance  of  a  fort,  that  the  governor  thought  proper  to 
icmonstrate  on  the  subject ;  and,  his  representations  being  disre- 
jtrded,  he  formally  commanded  the  Russians  to  quit  the  territories 
of  his  Catholic  majesty.  'J'he  command  was  treated  with  as  little 
respect  as  the  remonstrance ;  and,  upon  its  repetition,  the  Russian 
n.'  't,  Kvikof,  coolly  denied  the  riglu  of  the  Spaniards  over  the 
te;  ;*ory,  which  he  asserted  to  be  free  and  open  for  occupation  by 
i ,(  people  of  any  civilized  power.  The  governor  of  California 
\v!i*  unab)  to  enforce  his  commands ;  and,  as  no  assistance  could 
bo  artbrUeci  to  him  from  Mexico,  in  which  the  rebellion  was  then 
at  its  height,  the  .oti'ders  were  left  in  possession  of  the  ground, 
where  they  remrincd  until  1840,  in  defiance  alike  of  Spaniards 
aiul  of  Mexicans. 

On  the  restoration  of  peace  in  Europe,  in  1814,  the  Russian 
American  Company  resolved  to  make  another  eflfort  to  establish  a 
direct  commercial  intercourse,  by  sea,  between  its  possessions  on 
the  North  Pacific  and  the  European  ports  of  the  empire.  With  this 
object,  the  American  ship  Hannibal  was  purchased,  and,  her  name 
having  been  changed  to  Suwarrow,  she  was  despatched  from  Cron- 
stadt,  under  Lieutenant  Lazaref,  laden  with  merchandise,  for  Sitka, 
whence  she  returned  in  the  summer  of  1815,  with  a  cargo  of  furs 
valued  at  a  million  of  dollars.  The  adventure  proving  successful, 
others  of  the  same  kind  were  made,  until  the  communications  be- 
came regular,  as  they  now  are. 

After  the  departure  of  this  vessel  from  Sitka,  Baranof  sent  about 
a  hundred  Russians  and  Aleutians,  under  the  direction  of  Dr. 
Schaeffcr,  a  German,  who  had  been  the  surgeon  of  the  Suwarrow, 
with  the  intention,  apparently,  of  taking  possession  of  one  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands.     These  men  landed  first  at  Owyhee,  whence 


.^i 


it 

r   I 
!  '  I 


1: 


!:.'li;*-    .  • 


ii 


|ei*l 


5-1 


.'';  4. 


f 
'J  it; 


n^ 

•■ ;'  1 

t^^f*,, 

n  1  i' 


328 


RUSSIAN    SETTLKMKNTS    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


[1819. 


they  passed  successively  to  Woahoo  and  Atooi ;  and  in  the  latter 
island  they  remained  a  year,  committing  many  irregularities,  witli- 
out,  however,  effecting,  in  any  way,  the  supposed  objects  of  their 
expedition,  until  they  were  at  length  forced  to  submit  to  the  author- 
ities of  Tamahamaha,  and  to  quit  the  islands.* 

Expeditions  were  also  made  by  the  Russians  to  Bering's  Strait, 
and  the  seas  beyond  it,  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  question 
as  to  the  separation  of  Asia  and  America,  which,  though  long  before 
supposed  to  have  been  ascertained,  was  again  rendered  doubtful  by 
some  circumstances  of  recent  occurrence.  With  this  object,  Cap- 
tain Otto  von  Kotzebue  sailed  from  Cronstadt  in  the  ship  Ruric, 
which  had  been  fitted  out  at  the  expense  of  the  ex-chancellor 
Romanzof,  and,  in  the  summer  of  1816,  penetrated  through  the 
strait  into  the  Arctic  Sea ;  but,  although  he  surveyed  the  coasts  of 
both  continents  on  that  sea  more  minutely  than  any  navigator  who 
had  preceded  him,  he  was  unable  to  advance  so  far  in  any  direction 
as  Cook  had  gone  in  1778.  In  1820,  two  other  vessels  were  sent 
to  that  part  of  the  ocean,  with  the  same  objects ;  but  no  detailed 
account  of  their  voyage  has  been  made  public.  In  the  mean  time, 
however,  the  doubts  as  to  the  separation  of  the  two  continents  were 
completely  removed,  by  Captains  Wrangel  and  Anjou,  who  sur- 
veyed the  eastern  parts  of  the  Siberian  coast  with  great  care,  in 
defiance  of  the  most  dreadful  difficulties  and  dangers.f 

Nor  did  the  Russians  neglect  to  improve  the  administration  of 
their  affairs  on  the  North  Pacific  coasts.  In  1817,  Captain  Golow- 
nin  was  despatched  from  Europe,  in  the  sloop  of  war  Kamtchatka, 
with  a  commission  from  the  emperor  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the 
Russian  dominions  in  America ;  and,  upon  the  report  brought  back 
by  him,  it  was  resolved  that  a  radical  change  should  be  made  in  the 
management  of  those  possessions.  Accordingly,  upon  the  renewal 
of  the  charter  of  the  company  on  the  8th  of  July,  1819,  regulations 
were  put  in  execution,  by  which  the  governor  and  other  chief 
officers  of  Russian  America  became  directly  responsible  for  their 

*  For  further  particulars  on  this  subject,  the  reader  —  if  he  should  consider  the 
matter  worth  investigating  —  may  consult  Kotzebue's  narrative  of  his  voyage  to  the 
Pacific,  in  1815-16,  and  Jarves's  History  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

t  See  the  agreeable  and  instructive  narrative,  by  Kotzebue,  of  his  voyage  in  search 
of  a  north-oast  passage.  Wrangol's  account  of  his  expedition,  which  has  been  re- 
cently published,  is  a  most  interesting  work,  not  only  from  the  multitude  of  new  facts 
in  geography,  and  in  many  of  the  piiysical  scie.ices,  which  it  communicates,  but  also 
from  the  admiration  which  it  inspires  for  the  courage,  good  temper,  and  good  feeling, 
of  the  adventurous  :iarrator.  Wrangel  has  since  been,  for  many  years,  the  governor- 
general  of  Russian  America,  and  is  now  an  admiral  in  the  service  of  his  country. 


':il  i 


1819.J 


OCCURKENCES    AT    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


329 


condtJct,  and  the  condition  of  all  classes  of  the  ,  -^'ilation  of  those 
countries  was  materially  benefited.  The  death  of  L»u.^...>f  ren- 
dered the  introduction  of  these  reforms  less  ditHcult ;  and  the 
superintendence  of  the  colonies  has  ever  since  been  committed  to 
honorable  and  enlightened  men,  generally  officers  in  the  Russian 
navy,  under  wiiosc  direction  the  abuses  formerly  prevailing  to  so 
frightful  an  extent,  have  been  gradually  removed  or  abated.* 

About  the  same  time,  an  event  occurred,  of  great  importance  in 
the  history  of  a  country  which  is,  no  doubt,  destined  materially  to 
influence  the  political  condition  of  the  north-western  coasts  and 
regions  of  America.  Tamahamaha,  king  of  all  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  died  in  May,  1819,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three,  and  was 
succeeded  in  power  by  his  son,  or  reputed  son,  Riho  Riho,  or 
Tamahamaha  Il.f  Of  the  merits  and  demerits  of  Tamahamaha, 
it  would  be  out  of  place  here  to  speak  at  length.  He  was  a  chief 
of  note  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  islands  by  Cook,  when 
his  character  had  been  already  formed,  and  the  seeds  of  much  that 
was  evil  had  been  sown,  and  had  taken  firm  root  in  his  mind.  No 
sooner,  however,  was  he  brought  into  contact  with  civilized  men, 
than  he  began  to  learn,  and,  what  was  more  difficult,  to  unlearn. 
His  first  objects  were  of  a  nature  purely  selfish.  He  sought  power 
to  gratify  his  ambition  and  his  thirst  for  pleasure,  but  he  used  it, 
when  obtained,  for  nobler  ends ;  and  of  all  the  sovereigns  of  the 
earth,  his  contemporaries,  no  one  certainly  attempted  or  effected  as 
much,  in  proportion  to  his  means,  for  the  advancement  of  his 
people,  as  this  barbarian  chief  of  a  little  ocean  island. 

Upon  the  death  of  Tamahamaha,  great  changes  were  effected  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Sandwich  Islands.  The  old  king  had  resolutely 
maintained  the  religion  of  his  forefathers,  though  he  suppressed 
many  of  its  horrible  ceremonies  and  observances.  Riho  Riho,  how- 
ever, soon  after  his  accession,  abolished  that  religion,  and  embraced 
the  faith  of  the  white  men  who  came  to  his  islands  in  great  ships 
from  distant  countries.  His  principal  chiefs,  Boki  and  Krymakoo, 
(or  Kalaimaku,)  had  been  previously,  in  August,  1819,  baptized 
and  received  into  the  bosom  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  by  the 

*  Statische  und  cthnograpliisclie  Naclirichten,  Uber  die  Russischen  Besitzungen  an 
der  Nordwestkdstc  von  Ainerika — Statistical  and  etluiograpliical  Notices  concerning 
thn  Russian  Possessions  on  tho  North-Wost  Coasts  of  America  —  by  Admiral  von 
Wrangel,  late  governor-general  of  those  countries,  published  at  St.  Petersburg, 
in  18:«). 

t  These  names  are  now  generally  written  Liho  Liho  and  Kamehamaha. 

42 


ii  \ 


i   ■■ 

i;: 
I'll 

■A 

■ .    \ 

^:^ 

♦  f 


Ih 


':!£• 


!;•! 


I 


M^ 


■  I 


I  ,        ■  !' 


tu  h 


m0W   .13: 


IM 


.i . 


330 


OCCURRENCISS    AT   THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


[1819. 


chaplain  of  the  French  corvette  L'Uranie ;  and,  early  in  1820,  a 
vessel  reached  the  islands  from  Boston,  bringing  a  number  of  Prot- 
estant missionaries,  who  have  ever  since  been  established  there, 
and  have,  until  recently  at  least,  exercised  a  powerful  and  generally 
beneficial  influence  over  all  the  ^iflairs  of  the  kingdom.* 

*  For  minute  accounts  of  all  these  changes,  and  the  different  views  of  their  efTects 
see  Account  of  a  Residence  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  from  1822  to  1825,  by  C.  S. 
Stewart,  one  of  the  missionaries — Polynesian  Researches,  by  W.  Ellis  —  The  London 
Quarterly  Review  for  March,  1827  —  The  narratives  of  voyages  in  the  Pacific,  by 
Beechey,  Lord  Byron^  and  Belcher  —  The  History  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  by  Jarveg 
—  The  History  of  American  Missions,  &c. 


It 


331 


!•;! 


H.I       I 


■'i  i 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


1820  TO  1828. 


Bill  reported  by  a  Committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States, 
for  tiie  Occupation  of  the  Columbia  River — Ukase  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  with 
Regard  to  the  North  Pacific  Coasts — Negotiations  between  the  Governments  of  Great 
Britain,  Russia,  and  the  United  States  —  Conventions  between  the  United  States 
and  Russia,  and  between  Great  Britain  and  Russia  —  Further  Negotiations  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  relative  to  the  North- West  Coasts  —  Indefinite 
Extension  of  the  Arrangement  for  the  joint  Occupancy  of  the  Territories  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  by  the  British  and  the  Americans. 


i; 


Before  1820,  little,  if  any  thing,  relative  to  the  countries  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  had  been  said  in  the  Congress  rf  the  United 
States ;  and  those  countries  had  excited  very  little  interest  among 
the  citizens  of  the  federal  republic  in  general. 

In  December  of  that  year,  however,  immediately  after  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  Florida  treaty  by  Spain,  a  resolution  was  passed  by  the 
House  of  Representatives  in  Congress,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Floyd, 
of  Virginia  —  "that  an  inquiry  should  be  made,  as  to  the  situation 
of  the  settlements  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  as  to  the  expediency 
of  occupying  the  Columbia  River."  The  committee  to  which  this 
resolution  was  referred,  presented,  in  January  following,  a  long 
report,  containing  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  colonization  in  Amer- 
ica, with  an  account  of  the  fur  trade  in  the  northern  and  north- 
western sections  of  the  continent,  and  a  description  of  the  country 
claimed  by  the  United  States ;  from  all  which  are  drawn  the  con- 
clusions, —  that  the  whole  territory  of  America  bordering  upon  the 
Pacific,  from  the  41st  degree  of  latitude  to  the  53d,  if  not  to  the 
60th,  belongs  of  right  to  the  United  States,  in  virtue  of  the  purchase 
of  Louisiana  from  France,  in  1803,  of  the  acquisition  of  thie  titles  of 
Spain  by  the  Florida  treaty,  and  of  the  discoveries  and  settlements 
of  American  citizens  ;  —  that  the  trade  of  this  territory  in  furs  and 
other  articles,  and  the  fisheries  on  its  coasts,  might  be  rendered 
highly  productive ;  and  —  that  these  advantages  might  be  secured 
to  citizens  of  the  United  States  exclusively,  by  establishing  "  small 
trading  guards"  on  the  most  north-eastern  point  of  the  Missouri, 


.,'■  i.i 


;l    •     ' 


iV    .    • 


'.  .    Isr 


•J'  ■■ 


:|.;!1 


!»■'■ 


.'    »^ 


1'.      •  .  ;       .r 


V]       I  I 


illj. 


' 


ll1-i'.H" 


14'  ' 


=  h  f 


332 


RUSSIAN    UK  ASK. 


[1822. 


and  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cohimbia,  and  by  favoring  emigration  to 
the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  not  only  from  the 
United  States,  but  also  from  Ciiina.  To  this  report  the  com- 
mittee appended  "  a  bill  for  the  occupation  of  the  Columbia,  and 
the  regulation  of  the  trade  with  the  Indians  in  the  territories  of 
the  United  States."  Without  making  any  remarks  upon  the  char- 
acter of  this  report,  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  terms  of  the  bill 
are  directly  at  variance  with  the  provisions  of  the  third  article  of  the 
convention  of  October,  1818,  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  ;  as  the  Columbia  could  not  possibly  be  free  and  open  to  the 
vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects,  of  both  nations,  if  it  were  occupied  by 
cither.  The  bill  was  suffered  to  lie  on  the  table  of  the  House  during 
the  remainder  of  the  session :  in  the  ensuing  year,  it  was  again 
brought  before  Congress,  and  an  estimate  was  obtained,  from  the 
navy  commissioners,  of  the  expense  of  transporting  cannon,  ariiinu- 
nition,  and  stores,  by  sea,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia ;  but  110 
further  notice  was  taken  of  the  subject  until  the  winter  of  18-2;j. 

Measures  had,  in  the  mean  time,  been  adopted  by  the  Ilussi;iii 
government,  with  regard  to  the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  which 
strongly  excited  the  attention  of  both  the  other  powers  claiiiiiii;; 
dominion  in  that  quarter. 

Soon  after  the  renewal  of  the  charter  of  the  Russian  Ameiicuii 
Com|)any,  a  iiJcase,  or  imperial  decree,  was  issued  at  St.  Petersbuii: 
by  which  the  whole  west  coast  of  America,  north  of  the  51st  pii- 
allel,  and  the  whole  east  coast  of  Asia,  north  of  the  latitude  of  1') 
degrees  50  minutes,  with  all  the  adjacent  and  intervening  islands, 
were  declared  to  belong  exclusively  to  Russia ;  and  foreigners  wvw 
prohibited,  under  heavy  penalties,  from  approaching  vvitliin  a 
hundred  miles  of  any  of  those  coasts,  except  in  cases  of  exlrcine 
necessity.* 

This  decree  was  officially  communicated  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States  in  February,  18-2-2,  by  the  Chevalier  de  Poletica, 
Russian  minister  at  Washington,  between  whom  and  Mr.  J.  Q 
Adams,  the  American  secrettary  of  slate,  a  correspondence  iniiiit- 
diately  took  place  on  the  subject.  Mr.  Adams,  in  his  first  note. 
simply  made  known  the  surprise  of  uk  president  at  the  assorlion 
of  a  claim,  on  the  part  of  Russia,  to  so  large  a  portion  of  the  west 

*  The  ukasp,  dated  September  4tli,  IS'21,  and  the  correspondence  between  the 
Russian  and  American  irovernments  with  regard  to  it,  may  be  found  at  length  airioii^' 
the  documents  accompanying  President  Monroe's  message  to  Congress,  of  April 
17th,  1822. 


nd  foreigners  wvw 
oaching  witliiii  a 
I  cases  of  cxtromc 


182:2.] 


DISCUSSION    OF    THE    RUSSIAN    CLAIMS. 


333 


coasts  of  America,  and  at  the  promulgation,  by  that  power,  of  rules 
of  restriction  so  deeply  affecting  the  rights  of  the  United  States 
and  their  citizens ;  and  he  desired  to  know  whether  the  minister 
was  authorized  to  give  explanations  of  the  grounds  of  the  right 
claimed,  upon  principles  generally  recognized  by  the  laws  and 
usages  of  nations. 

To  this  M.  Poletica  replied  by  a  long  letter,  containing  a  sketch  — 
generally  erroneous  —  of  the  discoveries  of  his  countrymen  on  the 
north-west  coasts  of  America,  wiiich  extended,  according  to  his 
idea,  southward  as  far  as  tlie  49th  parallel  of  latitude.  He  de- 
fended the  assumption  of  the  51st  parallel  as  the  southern  limit  of 
the  possessions  of  his  sovereign,  upon  the  ground  that  this  line  was 
iiiiflway  between  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  where  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States  had  made  an  establishment,  and  the  Russian 
settlement  of  Sitka ;  and  he  finally  maintained  that  his  government 
would  be  justifiable  in  exercising  the  rights  of  sovereignty  over  the 
whole  of  the  Pacific  north  of  the  said  parallel,  inasmuch  as  that  sec- 
tion of  the  sea  was  bounded  on  botli  sides  by  Russian  territories,  and 
was  thus,  in  fact,  a  close  sea.  The  secretary  of  state,  in  return, 
asserted  that,  "  from  the  period  of  the  existence  of  the  United 
States  as  an  independent  nation,  their  v^^^els  had  freely  navigated 
those  seas ;  and  the  right  to  navigate  them  was  a  part  of  that  inde- 
pendence, as  also  the  right  of  their  citizens  to  trade,  even  in  arms 
a:i(l  munitions  of  war,  with  the  aboriginal  natives  of  the  north- 
west coast  of  America,  who  were  not  under  the  territorial  jurisdic- 
tion of  other  nations."  He  denied  in  toto  the  claim  of  the  Russians 
to  any  part  of  America  south  of  the  55th  degree  of  latitude,  on 
the  ground  that  this  parallel  was  declared,  in  the  charter  *  of  the 
Prussian  American  Company,  to  be  the  southern  limit  of  the  dis- 

*  The  first  article  of  the  charter  or  privilcfrp  ffrantcd  by  the  emperor  Paul  to  the 
Russian  American  Company,  on  the  8th  of  July,  179!),  is  as  follows :  — 

"In  virtue  of  the  discovery,  by  Russian  navigators,  of  a  part  of  the  coast  of 
America  in  the  north-east,  beginning  from  the  55th  degree  of  latitude,  and  of 
chains  of  islands  extending  from  Kamtchatka,  northward  towards  America,  and 
sdulluvard  towards  Japan,  Russia  has  ac(juired  the  right  of  possessing  those  lands; 
and  ihe  said  company  is  authorized  to  enjoy  all  the  advantages  of  industry,  and  all 
flic  establishments,  upon  the  said  coast  of  America,  in  the  north-east,  from  tiie  55th 
liogree  of  latitude  to  Bering's  Strait,  and  beyond  it,  as  also  upon  the  Aleutian  and 
Kurile  Islands,  and  the  others,  situated  in  the  eastern  Arctic  Ocean." 

By  the  second  article,  — 

"The  company  may  make  new  disroveries,  not  only  north,  but  also  south,  of  the 
said  55th  parall(>l  of  latitude,  and  may  occupy  and  bring  under  the  dominion  of  Rus- 
sia all  territories  tlius  discovered,  observing  the  rule,  that  such  territories  should  not 
hive  been  previously  occupied  and  placed  under  subjection  by  another  nation." 


♦ 


I'l 


'■■■•       ! 


!•!] 


m 


I'. 


If 


I  'I 


'^  :     i 


H:         4 


liij 


I    ! 


.^^■\\- 

■'- 

i;  ■  :  ^ 

ll^Siijiii'  J 

±i 

I      ! 


^*.r. 


■'il.. 


iiv  i!! 


ir-iM 


!  i 


■  1,     /rf  ,■     ■ 


334 


EXTRAVA«iANT    I'KETLNSIONS    OF    RUSSIA. 


[1822. 


coveries  of  the  Russians  in  1799 ;  since  which  period  they  had  made 
no  discoveries  or  establishments  south  of  the  said  line,  on  the 
coast  now  claimed  by  them.  With  regard  to  the  suggestion  that 
the  Russian  government  might  justly  exercise  sovereignty  over  the 
Pacific  Ocean  os  a  dose  sen,  because  it  claims  territories  both  on 
the  Asiatic  and  the  American  shores,  Mr.  Adams  merely  observed, 
that  the  distance  between  those  shores,  on  the  parallel  of  51  degrees 
north,  IS  four  thousand  miles,;  and  he  concluded  by  expressing  the 
persuasion  of  the  president  that  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
would  remain  unmolested  in  the  pros^^cution  of  their  lawful  com- 
merce, and  that  no  effect  would  be  given  to  a  prohibition  manifestly 
incompatible  with  their  rigjits. 

The  Russian  minister  plenipotentiary,  a  few  days  after  the  receipt 
of  Mr.  Adams's  last  communication,  sent  another  note,  supporting 
the  rights  of  his  sovereign,  in  which  he  advanced  *'  the  authentic 
fact,  that,  in  1789,  the  Spanish  packet  St.  Charles,  commanded  by 
Captain  Haro,  found,  in  the  latitude  of  forty-eight  and  forty-nine 
degrees,  Russian  establishments,  to  the  number  of  eight,  consisting, 
in  the  whole,  of  twenty  families,  and  four  hundred  and  sixty-two 
individuals,  who  were  the  descendants  of  the  companions  of  Cap- 
tain Tchirikof,  supposed  until  then  to  have  perished."  Respecting 
this '^  authentic  fact, ^^  it  has  been  shown,  in  the  account*' already 
given  of  the  Spanish  voyage  to  which  the  Chevalier  Poletica  refers, 
that  Martinez  and  Haro  did  find  eight  Russian  establishments  on 
the  North  Pacific  coast  of  America  in  1788,  but  that  they  were  till 
situated  in  the  latitudes  o(  ffty-cight  and  fifty-nine  degrees,  and  that 
the  persons  inhabiting  them  had  all  been,  a  short  tir  e  previous, 
transported  thither,  from  Kamtchatka  and  the  Aleutian  Islands,  by 
Schelikof,  the  founder  of  the  Russian  American  Company.  The 
minister  doubtless  derived  his  information  from  the  introduction  to 
the  journal  of  Marchand's  voyage  ;  but  he  neglected  to  read  the  note 
appended  to  that  account,  in  which  the  error  is  explained. 

The  prohibitory  regulation  of  the  Russian  emperor,  and  the 
correspondence  relating  to  it,  were  immediately  submitted  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States ;  and,  in  the  ensuing  year,  a  nego- 
tiation was  commenced  at  St.  Petersburg,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  settle  amicably  and  definitively  the  limits  of  the  territories  oa 
the  north-west  side  of  America,  claimed  by  the  two  nations  re- 
spectively, and  the  terms  upon  which  their  navigation  and  trade  in 
the  North  Pacific  were  in  future  to  be  conducted.     A  negotiation, 

•      •  See  p.  186. 


1823.] 


DECLARATION    OF    PRESIDENT    MONROE. 


335 


for  similar  purposes,  was,  at  the  same  time,  in  progress  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, between  the  governments  of  Russia  and  Great  Britain  ;  the 
latter  power  having  formally  protested  against  the  claims  and  princi- 
ples advanced  in  the  ukase  of  1821,  immediately  on  its  appearance, 
and  subsequently,  during  the  session  of  the  congress  of  European 
sovereigns  at  Verona.*  Under  these  circumstances,  a  desire  was 
felt,  on  the  part  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  that  a  joint 
convention  should  be  concluded  between  the  three  nations  having 
claims  to  territories  on  the  north-west  side  of  America;  and  the 
envoys  of  the  republic  at  London  and  St.  Petersburg  were  severally 
instructed  to  propose  a  stipulation  to  the  effect  that  no  settlement 
should,  during  the  next  ten  years,  be  made,  in  those  territories,  by 
Russians  south  of  the  latitude  of  55  degrees,  by  citizens  of  the 
United  States  north  of  the  latitude  of  51  degrees,  or  by  British 
subjects  south  of  the  51st  or  north  of  the  55th  parallels. 

This  proposition  for  a  joint  convention  was  not  accepted  by 
either  of  the  governments  to  which  it  was  addressed  ;  the  principal 
ground  of  the  refusal  by  each  being  the  declaration  made  by  Presi- 
dent Monroe  in  his  message  to  Congress,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  session  of  1823,  that  —  in  the  discussions  and  arrangements  then 
going  on  with  respect  to  the  north-west  coasts  —  "  the  occasion  had 
been  judged  proper  for  asserting,  as  a  principle  in  which  the  rights 
and  interests  of  the  United  States  are  involved,  that  the  American 
continents,  by  the  free  and  independent  condition  vhich  they  have 
assumed  and  maintain,  are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as  subjects 
for  colonization  by  any  European  poioer."  f    Against  this  declaration, 

*  Debate  in  Parliament  on  the  inquiry  made  by  Sir  James  Mackintosh  on  this 
subject,  May  21, 1823. 

t  The  message  of  December  2d,  1823,  containing  this  declaration,  also  announced 
the  resolution  of  the  United  States  to  view  "as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly 
disposition"  towards  themselves  any  attempt,  on  the  part  of  a  European  power,  to 
oppress  or  control  the  destiny  of  any  of  the  independent  states  of  America.  This 
noble  resolution  was  taken  upon  the  assurance  that  the  United  States  would,  if  ne- 
cessary, be  sustained  in  enforcing  it  by  Great  Britain,  without  whose  cooperation  it 
would  have  been  ineffective,  certainly  as  to  the  prevention  of  the  attempts.  The 
circumstances  which  induced  the  American  government  thus,  at  the  same  time, 
openly  to  offer  a  blow  at  the  only  nation  on  whose  assistance  it  could  depend,  in  case 
the  anticipated  attempts  should  be  made  by  the  despotic  powers  of  Europe,  have  not 
been  disclosed.  That  it  is  the  true  policy  of  the  United  States,  by  all  lawful  means, 
to  resist  the  extension  of  European  dominion  in  America,  and  to  confine  its  limits, 
and  abridge  its  duration,  wherever  it  may  actually  exist,  is  a  proposition  which  no 
arguments  are  required  to  demonstrate,  either  to  American  citizens  or  to  European 
sovereigns ;  but  this  proclamation,  by  the  government  of  the  United  States,  of  its 
intention  to  pursue  those  ends,  could  have  no  other  effect  than  to  delay  the  attainment 
of  them,  as  it  his  evidently  done. 


.-■♦' 


ii; 


1 1 


. 


■  i 


I 


^ 


■:!;in 


.I'V) 


£lt 


U 


lit 


336 


BECOMMENDATIONS    OF    GENERAK    JESLH. 


[IS-^i]. 


I''    1. 1   ,   I 


.'■I!     , 


if  ' 


which  —  however  just  and  poHtic  niii^ht  have  been  the  principn 
announced  —  was  unquestionably  imprudent,  or  at  least  preinatuic, 
the  British  and  the  Russian  f^vovernments  severally  protested  ;  and 
as  there  were  many  other  points  on  which  it  was  not  probable  tluu 
the  three  powers  could  agree,  it  was  determined  that  the  nej^otiu- 
tions  should  be  continued,  as  they  had  been  commenced,  separately 
at  London  and  at  St.  Petersburg. 

Another  publication,  equally  impolitic  on  the  part  of  the  Ameri- 
can government,  soon  after  contributed  to  render  more  difficult  tlio 
settlement  of  the  question  of  boundaries  on  the  Pacific  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain. 

A  select  committee,  appointed  by  the  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States,  in  December,  1823,  with  instructions  to  inquirf 
into  the  expediency  of  occupying  the  mouth  of  the  Columbin, 
requested  General  Thomas  S.  Jesup,  the  quartermaster-general  of  the 
army,  to  communicate  his  opinions  respecting  the  propriety  of  the 
measure  proposed,  as  well  as  its  practicability  and  the  best  method 
of  executing  it;  in  answer  to  which  that  officer  sent,  on  the  IGih 
of  February,  1824,  a  letter  containing  an  exposition  of  his  views  of 
the  true  policy  of  the  United  States  with  regard  to  the  north-west 
coasts  and  territories  of  America,  and  of  the  means  by  which  the\ 
might  be  carried  into  effect.  Leaving  aside  the  question  as  to  tho 
rights  of  the  United  States,  he  considered  the  possession  and  niilitiiiv 
command  of  the  Columbia  and  of  the  Upper  Missouri  necessary  lor 
the  protection,  not  only  of  the  fur  trade,  but  also  of  the  whole 
western  frontier  of  the  republic,  which  is  every  where  in  contact 
with  numerous,  powerful,  and  warlike  tribes  of  savages  :  and,  lor 
this  purpose,  he  recommended  the  immediate  despatch  of  two 
hundred  men  across  the  continent  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia, 
while  two  merchant  vessels  should  transport  thither  the  cannon, 
ammunition,  materials,  and  stores,  requisite  for  the  first  establish- 
ment ;  after  which,  four  or  five  intermediate  posts  should  be  formed 
at  points  between  Council  Bluflfs,  on  the  Missouri,  (the  most  western 
spot  then  occupied  by  American  troops,)  and  the  Pacific.  By  such 
means,  says  the  letter,  "  present  protection  would  be  afforded  to 
our  traders,  and,  on  the  expiration  of  the  privilege  granted  to 
British  subjects  to  trade  on  the  waters  of  the  Columbia,  we  should 
be  enabled  to  remove  them  from  our  territory,  and  to  secure  the 
whole  trade  to  our  own  citizens." 

The  report  of  the  committee,  with  the  letter  from  General  Jesup 
annexed,  was  ordered  to  lie  on  the  table  of  the  House,  and  nothing 


I'l 


1824.] 


NEGOTIATION    AT    J.OXDON. 


337 


more  was  done  on  the  subject  during  that  session  ;  the  papers, 
however,  were  both  published,  and  they  immediately  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  British  ministry.  In  a  conference  hekl  at  London, 
in  July  following,  between  the  American  envoy,  Mr.  Rush,  and  the 
British  conunissionerH,  Messrs.  Iluskisson  and  Stratford  Canning, 
tlie  latter  gentlemen  cotnmented  upon  the  observations  of  General 
Jcsiip,  particularly  upon  those  respecting  the  removal  of  British 
tiiidcrs  from  the  territories  of  the  Columbia,  which,  they  said,  "  were 
calculated  to  put  Great  Britain  especially  upon  her  guard,  appear- 
ing, as  they  did,  at  a  moment  when  a  friendly  negotiation  was 
jicn«!lng  between  the  two  |)owers  for  the  adjustment  of  their  relative 
and  conflicting  claims  to  that  entire  district  of  country." 

It  is  moreover  certain,  from  the  accounts  of  Mr.  Rusii,  as  well  as 
from  those  given  sul)se(iuently  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  that  the  publication 
of  General  Jesup's  letter,  and  the  declaration  in  President  Monroe's 
message  against  the  establishment  of  European  colonies  in  America, 
rendered  the  British  government  much  less  disposed  to  any  con- 
cession, with  regard  to  the  north-west  territories,  than  it  would 
otiiorwisc  have  been  ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe,  froni  many 
circumstances,  that  they  tended  materially  to  produce  a  union  of 
views,  api)roaching  to  a  league,  between  that  power  and  Russia, 
which  has  proved  very  disadvantageous  to  the  interests  of  the 
United  States  on  the  North  Pacific  coasts. 

The  negotiation  respecting  the  north-west  coasts  of  America, 
commenced  at  London  in  April,  1824,  was  not  long  continued ; 
the  parties  being  so  entirely  at  variance  with  regard  to  facts  as  well 
as  principles,  that  the  impossibility  of  eft'ecting  any  new  arrange- 
ment soon  became  evident.  Mr.  Rush,*  the  American  plenipoten- 
tiary, began  by  claiming  for  the  United  States  the  exclusive  pos- 
session and  sovereignty  of  the  whole  country  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  from  the  42d  degree  of  latitude,  at  least  as  far  north 
as  the  51st,  between  which  i)arallels  all  the  waters  of  the  Columbia 
were  then  supposed  to  be  included.  In  support  of  this  claim,  he 
cited,  as  in  1818,  the  facts  —  of  the  first  discovery  of  the  Columbia 
by  Gray — of  the  first  exploration  of  that  river  from  its  sources  to  the 
sea  by  Lewis  and  Clarke  —  of  the  first  settlement  on  its  banks  by 
the  Pacific  Fur  Company,  "a  settlement  which  was  reduced  by 
the  arms  of  the  British  during  the  late  war,  but  was  formally  sur- 


♦ 


1 


It" 


\'Vn 


% 


t-M 


*  Letter  from  Mr.  Rusli  to  the  secretary  of  state,  of  August  12th,  1824,  among  the 
docunionts  accompanying  President  Adams's  message  to  Congress  of  January  Slst, 

im. 

43 


flit'  ' 

111;    '  .  t': 


f 


,11 


'f\l 


'f 


Iw    1' 


^ ' 


338         CLAIMS    or    the    U.    states    and    of    great    BRITAIN.    [1824. 

rendered  up  lo  the  United  States  at  the  return  of  peace,"  and  —  of 
the  transfer  by  Spain  to  the  United  States  of  all  her  titles  to  those 
territories,  founded  upon  the  well-known  discoveries  of  her  navi- 
gators ;  and  he  insisted,  agreeably  to  express  instructions  from  his 
government,  "that  no  part  of  the  Aniorican  continent  was  thence- 
forth to  be  open  to  colonization  from  Europe."  In  explanation  and 
defence  of  this  declaration,  Mr.  Rush  "  referred  to  the  principles 
settled  by  the  Nootka  Sound  convention  of  1700,  and  remarked, 
that  Spain  had  now  lost  all  her  exclusive  colonial  rights,  recognized 
under  that  convention :  first,  by  the  fact  of  the  independence  of  the 
South  American  states  and  of  Mexico ;  and  next,  by  her  express 
renunciation  of  all  her  rights,  of  whatever  kind,  above  the  lid 
degree  of  north  latitude,  to  the  United  States.  Those  new  states 
would  themselves  now  possess  the  rights  incident  to  their  condition 
of  political  independence ;  and  the  claims  of  the  United  States 
above  the  42d  parallel  as  high  up  as  60  degrees  —  claims  as  well 
in  their  own  right  as  by  succession  to  the  title  of  Spain  —  vvotdd 
henceforth  necessarily  preclude  other  nations  from  forming  colonial 
establishments  upon  any  part  of  the  American  continents," 

Messrs.  Huskisson  and  Carming,  in  reply,  denied  that  the 
circumstance  of  a  merchant  vessel  of  the  United  States  havitijr 
penetrated  the  north-west  coast  of  America  at  the  Columbia  River, 
could  give  to  the  United  States  a  claim  along  that  coast,  both 
north  and  south  of  the  river,  over  territories  which,  they  insisted, 
had  been  previously  discovered  by  Great  Britain  herself,  in  e.\[)e- 
ditions  fitted  out  under  the  authority  and  with  the  resources  of  the 
nation.  They  declared  that  British  subjects  had  formed  settle- 
ments upon  the  Columbia,  or  upon  rivers  flowing  into  it  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  coc  al  with,  if  not  prior  to,  the  settlement 
made  by  American  citizens  at  its  mouth  ;  and  that  the  surrender  of 
that  settlement  after  the  late  war  was  in  fulfilment  of  the  treaty  of 
Ghent,  and  did  not  aflfect  the  question  of  right  in  any  way.  Tiiey 
treated  as  false  or  doubtful  the  accounts  of  many  of  the  Spanish 
voyages  in  the  Pacific ;  alleging,  as  more  authentic,  the  narrative 
of  Drake's  expedition,  from  which  it  appeared  that  he  had,  in 
1.579,  explored  the  west  coast  of  America  to  the  48th  parallel  of 
latitude,  five  or  six  degrees  farther  north  than  the  Spaniards  them- 
selves pretended  to  have  advanced  before  that  period :  and  they 
refused  to  admit  that  any  title  could  be  derived  from  the  mere  fact 
of  Spanish  navigators  having  first  seen  the  coast  at  particular  spots, 
even  when  this  was  capable  of  being  fully  substantiated.     Finally, 


DKITAIN.    [1B24. 

tcacp,"  and  —  of 
cr  titles  to  those 
rics  of  her  iiavi- 
ructions  from  \m 
nciit  wus  thcdce- 
I  explanation  and 
to  the  principles 
),  and  remarked, 
rif^hts,  reco<ijnized 
oi)endence  of  the 
t,  by  her  express 
,  above  the  '1-2(1 
Those  new  states 
to  their  condition 
:ie   United  States 
i  —  claims  as  well 
)f  Spain  —  would 
1  forming  colonial 
itincnts." 
denied    that   the 
d    States  havirii,' 
3  Columbia  lliver, 
that  coast,  belli 
ich,  they  insisted, 
herself,  in  expe- 
resonrces  of  the 
id   formed  settle- 
g  into  it  west  of 
to,  the  settlement 
the  surrender  of 
it  of  the  treaty  of 
any  way.     They 
ly  of  the  Spanish 
itic,  the  narrative 
that  he  had,  in 
3  4Sth  parallel  of 
3  Spaniards  them- 
period :  and  they 
rem  the  mere  fact 
It  particular  spots, 
itiated.     Finally, 


1824.] 


PKOl'OSITIONS    KOll    PAUTITION. 


339 


they  assured  Mr.  Hush  that  their  government  would  never  assent  to 
the  claim  set  forth  by  him  respecting  the  territory  watered  by  the 
Columbia  River  and  its  tributaries,  which,  besides  being  essentially 
ol)jectionable  in  its  general  bearings,  had  also  the  effect  of  inter- 
fering directly  with  the  actual  rights  of  Great  Britain,  derived  from 
use,  occupancy,  and  settlement ;  asserting,  at  the  same  time,  that 
"  tliey  considered  the  unoccupied  parts  of  America  just  us  much 
open  as  heretofore  to  colonization  by  Great  Britain,  us  well  as  by 
other  European  powers,  agreeably  to  the  convention  of  1790, 
between  the  British  and  Spanish  governments,  and  that  the  United 
States  would  have  no  right  to  take  umbrage  at  the  establishment 
of  n«;w  colonies  from  Europe,  in  any  such  parts  of  the  American 
continent."  * 

After  much  discussion  on  these  points,  Mr.  Rush  presented  a 
proposal  from  his  government,  that  any  country  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  which  might  be  claimed  by  the  United  States,  or  by 
Great  Britain,  should  be  free  and  open  to  the  citizens  or  subjects 
of  both  nations  for  ten  years  from  the  date  of  the  agreement : 
Provided,  that,  during  this  period,  no  settlements  were  to  be  made 
by  British  subjects  north  of  the  55th  or  south  of  the  51st  degrees 
of  latitude,  nor  by  Amcricni  citizens  north  of  the  latter  parallel. 
To  this  proposal,  which  Mr.  Rush  afterwards  varied  by  substituting 
the  49th  parallel  of  latitude  for  the  51st,  Messrs.  Huskisson  and 
Ciuniing  replied  by  a  counter  proposal,  to  the  effect,  that  the 
boundary  between  the  territories  of  the  two  nations,  beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  should  pass  from  those  mountains  westward 
along  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude,  to  the  north-easternmost  branch 
of  the  Columbia  River,  called  Macgillivray's  River  on  the  maps, 
and  thence  down  the  middle  of  the  stream,  to  the  Pacific ;  the 
British  possessing  the  country  north  and  west  of  such  line,  and  the 
United  States  that  which  lay  south  and  east  of  it :  Provided,  that 
the  subjects  or  citizens  of  both  nations  should  be  equally  at  liberty, 
during  the  space  of  ten  years  from  the  date  of  the  agreement,  to 
pass  by  land  or  by  water  through  all  the  territories  on  both  sides  of 
the  boundary,  and  to  retain  and  use  their  establishments  already 
formed  in  any  part  of  them.  The  British  plenipotentiaries  at  the 
same  time  declared  that  this  their  proposal  was  one  from  which 

*  Protocol  of  the  twelfth  conference  between  the  plenipotentiaries,  held  June  26th, 
1824,  among  the  documents  annexed  to  President  Adams's  message  to  Congress  of 
January  Slst,  1826. 


4' 


'•'(  ■ 


^}\ 


^!! 


I  !' 


I; 


•  1 


]• 


i    >:    I      ! 


.340 


PnOPOSlTIONS    foil    PARTITION. 


[\m. 


"^^■^■'^ii'4.' 


!; 


,i!»1 


^j|*/il|,n  I 


y'.?;i,!i:;  r 


y^-  ■  i: 


•■)  ■      f  ^?"l* 


Great  Britniii  wouKI  cortainly  not  depart ;  nnd,  n8  nil  prospect  of 
compromise  was  thus  destroyed,  the  negotiation  ended. 

In  this  discussion  between  the  United  States  and  Great  nritnin, 
uiMin  the  subject  of  thcMr  respective  claims  to  the  soverei{;nty  of 
the  countries  west  of  the  lloeky  Mountains,  the  grounds  of  tlioso 
claims  were  first  made  to  assume  a  form  somewhat  definite ;  and 
this  may  be  considered  as  princi|)ally  due  to  the  labor  and  pene- 
tration of  Mr.  Rush,  who  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  inqiiirc 
carefully  into  the  facts  of  the  case.  The  introduction  by  him  of  tlu> 
Nootka  convention,  as  an  element  in  the  controversy,  was  accordin;,' 
to  express  instructions  frotn  his  povernment.*  It  appears  to  Imvo 
been  wholly  unnecessary,  and  was  certainly  impolitic.  No  allusjnii 
had  been  made  to  that  arrangement  in  any  of  the  previous  discus- 
sions with  regard  to  the  north-west  coasts,  and  it  was  doubth  ss 
considered  extinct ;  but  when  it  was  thus  brought  forward  by  thu 
American  government  in  connection  with  the  declaration  against 
European  colonization,  as  a  settlement  of  general  principles  with 
regard  to  those  coasts,  an  argument  was  aHbrded  in  favor  of  ilu; 
subsistence  of  the  convention,  of  which  the  British  government  did 
not  fail  to  take  advantage,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown. 

*  "  Tlie  principles  settlod  by  ttic  Nootka  Sound  ronvontion  of  28th  October,  1711(1, 
were  — 

"'  1st.  That  the  rii;iits  of  fishinij  in  tiic  South  Seiis;  of  tnidiiiif  with  the  nativPNnf 
the  north-west  coast  of  America;  and  of  inakinir  settletnents  on  tlie  coast  itself,  I'., r 
the  purposes  of  that  trade,  north  of  tiie  artiuil  settlements  of  Spain,  were  common  to 
all  the  European  nation.s,  and,  of  course,  to  the  United  States. 

"'yd.  That,  so  far  as  the  aetmil  settlements  of  Spain  had  extended,  she  possessed 
the  exclusive  rights  territorial,  and  of  niivijifation  iind  fishery;  extending  to  the  dm- 
tance  often  miles  from  the  const  so  iirtiiiifhj  ornifiinl, 

"  '  3d.  That,  on  the  coasts  of  Smith  ,'lmrriru,  and  the  adjacent  islands  sonth  of  tlic 
parts  already  occupied  by  Spain,  no  si<tt.lement  should  Ihereatler  be  made  eillier  hy 
British  or  Spanish  subjects;  but,  on  both  sides,  should  be  retained  the  liberty  of  land- 
ing and  of  erecting  temporary  buildings  tor  the  purposes  of  the  fishery.  These  riglil^ 
were,  also,  of  course,  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  the  United  Slates. 

"'The  exclusive  rights  of  Si)aiu  to  any  j)art  of  the  American  continents  liavo 
ceased.  That  portion  of  the  convention,  therefore,  which  recognizes  the  exclusive 
colonial  rights  of  Spain  on  these  continents,  though  confirmed,  as  between  (Jrcat 
Britain  and  Spain,  by  the  first  additional  article  to  the  treaty  of  the  oth  of  July,  If  II, 
has  been  extinguished  by  tlie  fact  of  the  independence  ot'the  South  American  nations 
and  of  Mexico.  Those  independent  nations  will  possess  the  rights  incid(<nt  to  that 
condition,  and  their  territories  will,  of  course,  bo  subject  to  no  crchisirc  right  of  nav- 
igation in  their  vicmity,  or  of  access  to  them,  by  anj'  tiireign  nation. 

"  '  A  necessary  consequence  of  this  state  of  things  will  be,  that  the  American  con- 
tinents, henceforth,  will  no  longer  be  subject  to  colonization.  Occupied  by  civilized, 
independent  nations,  they  will  be  accessible  to  Europeans,  and  each  other,  on  that 


18'2I.|    tuNVr.NTlON    UKTWKKN    Till.    l\     8TATKS    AND    ULSSIA. 


Ml 


if  28th  October,  17!l(), 


In  tli(3  incuii  time,  tliu  iiui^otiiition  between  tlic  Uiiitud  States  and 
Knssiii  was  terminated  by  a  convention,  sij^ned  ut  St.  PetcTsbnrj;, 
oil  tlio  5tli  of  April,  \&M,  containing  five  articles:  by  the  Jint  of 
which,  it  is  agreed  that  the  respective  citizens  or  subjects  of  the 
two  nations  shall  not  l.o  distiirlMid  or  r<Htniitie<l  in  navigating  or  in 
fiHliing  in  any  |>art  of  the  I'acitic  Ocean,  or  in  the  power  of  resort- 
ing to  the  coasts  upon  points  which  may  not  already  have  been 
occupied,  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  natives;  saving, 
always,  the  restrictions  and  conditions  determined  by  the  following 
articles,  to  wit:  by  the  smntd  article,  the  citizens  of  the  Linitcil 
?5tates  shall  not  resort  to  any  point  on  the  north-west  coasts  of 
America,  where  then;  is  n  Russian  establishment,  without  tho 
IHMiiiission  of  the  governor  or  commandant  of  the  place,  and  vice 
rersn:  by  the  third  article,  neither  the  United  States  nor  their 
cilizons  shall,  in  future,  form  any  establishment  on  those  coasts,  or 
the  adjacent  islands,  north  of  the  latitude  of  51  degrees  40  minutes, 
and  the  Russians  shall  make  none  south  of  that  latitude.  ''  It  is, 
iii'vertheless,  understood,''  says  the  fourth  article,  ''  that  dming  a 
torrii  of  ten  years,  counting  from  the  signature  of  the  present  con- 
vention, the  ships  of  both  powers,  or  which  belong  to  their  citizens 
or  subjects  respectively,  may  reciprocally  fre<juent,  without  any 
liiuderance  whatever,  the  interior  seas,  gult's,  harbors,  and  creeks, 
ii|)on  the  coast  mentioned  in  the  preceding  anl<  io,  for  the  purpose 


i  .  I 


.'!    1 


III    !■ 


t    •• 


ii)otinif  alonp;  and  the  Pacific  Oceiin,  in  ovory  part  of  it,  will  rrinaiii  opi-ii  to  tho 
n;ivigiUion  of  all  iiiitions,  in  like  niiintu'r  with  thi'  .'Vlluntic' " — Instructions  of  the 
lion.  J.  Q.  Adams,  sccrt-tary  of  sfale  of  the  United  States,  to  .Mr.  Rush,  dated  July 
•,'•,'(!,  l!^'£\,  ainoii'^r  the  diieunients  accompany injr  President  Adams's  niessajfe  to  Con- 
iricss  iif  January  :Ust,  1^2G. 

With  reifard  to  the  portion  of  tiiese  instructions  here  extracted,  the  reader  is  re- 
fiTred  to  the  convention  of  \7'M)  itsell",  and  to  the  remarks  on  it  in  pp.  '-ll'-i,  '2'>^,  and 
;ib,  of  this  History,  from  which  it  will  ho  seen  that  the  convention,  in  all  its  stipula- 
tions, was  simply  an  international  airreement  hetween  Spain  and  (rreat  Britain,  bind- 
iiilllhcni  and  their  suhjecls  only  until  its  e.\|iiratioii,  which  took  place,  in  consequence 
of  till'  war,  in  17!ll!,  and  apply  in^r  in  no  respect,  either  as  to  advantajres  or  restrictions, 
til  uiiy  other  nation  whatsoever;  and  that,  conse(pienlly,  other  nations  luul  the  same 
ri^'ht  to  occujiy  the  vacant  coasts  of  .\)ncrica,  and  to  iiavii^ale  and  fish  in  tho  adjacent 
seas,  within  ten  leajfurs,  (the  distance  defined  by  the  convention,)  and  even  within 
ti'ii  miles,  of  the  parts  occupied  by  Spain,  after,  as  before,  the  signature  of  that  agree- 
ment; and  Spain  had  as  naich  right,  atler,  as  before,  that  event,  to  prohibit  them 
from  so  doing,  if  the  Nootka  (convention  were,  as  as.-:erted  by  the  secretary  of  state, 
a  defuiitive  settlement  of  general  principles  of  national  law  res|iecting  navigation 
and  fi.sliery  in  the  seas,  and  trade  and  settlenu'iit  on  the  coasts,  here  mentioned,  it 
Would  lie  ditlicult  to  resist  the  ]iretensious  of  the  IJrilish  jdenipotentiaries  with  regard 
to  the  territories  west  of  the  Kocky  Mountains,  as  set  forth  in  tho  statement  (Proofs 
and  Illustrations,  letter  II)  presented  by  them  to  Mr.  Gallatin  in  1626. 


1       '    ^ 


n  h 


',i.  '  " 


Pi?!-* 


'it. 

1  ll 


342 


TREATY    BETWEEN    RUSSIA    AND    GREAT    BRITAIN. 


[1825. 


of  fishing  and  trading  with  the  natives  of  t''e  country :  "  it  being, 
however,  stipulated  by  the  remaining  Jifth  article,  that  spirituous 
liquors,  fire-arms,  other  arms,  powder,  and  munitions  of  war,  are 
always  excepted  from  this  same  commerce  permitted  by  the  fourth 
article,  and  that,  in  case  of  contravention  of  this  part  of  the  agree- 
ment, the  nation  whose  citizens  or  subjects  may  have  committed 
the  delinquency,  shall  alone  have  the  right  to  punish  them.* 

This  convention  does  not  appear  to  offer  any  grounds  for  dispute 
as  to  the  construction  of  its  stipulations,  but  is,  on  the  contrary,  clear 
and  equally  favorable  to  both  nations.  The  rights  of  both  parties  to 
navigate  every  part  of  the  Pacific,  and  to  trade  with  the  natives  of 
any  places  oti  the  coasts  of  that  sea,  not  already  occupied,  are  first 
distinctly  acknowledged ;  after  which  it  is  agreed,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent future  difficulties,  that  each  should  submit  to  certain  limitations 
as  to  navigation,  trade,  and  settlement,  on  the  north-west  coasts  of 
America,  either  perpetually  or  during  a  fixed  period.  Neither  party 
claimed,  directly  or  by  inference,  the  immediate  sovereignty  of  any 
spot  on  the  American  coasts  not  occupied  by  its  citizens  or  sub- 
jects, or  acknowledged  the  right  of  the  other  to  the  possession  of 
any  spot  not  so  occupied  ;  the  definitive  regulation  of  limits  bcinj; 
deferred  until  the  establishments  and  other  interests  of  the  tuo 
nations  in  that  quarter  of  the  world  should  have  acquired  such  a 
development  as  to  render  more  precise  stipulations  necessary. 

The  Russian  government,  however,  construed  this  convention  as 
giving  to  itself  the  absolute  sovereignty  of  all  the  ivest  coasts  of 
America  north  of  the  parallel  of  54  degrees  40  minutes,  while  deny- 
ing any  such  right  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  the  coasts 
extending  southward  from  that  line.  In  February,  1825,  a  treaty 
was  concluded  between  Russia  and  Great  Britain,  relative  to  North- 
West  America,  containing  provisions  similar  to  those  of  the  con- 
vention between  Russia  and  the  United  States,  expressed  in  nearly 
the  same  words,  but  also  containing  many  other  provisions,  some 
of  which  are  directly  at  variance  with  the  evident  sense  of  the  last- 
mentioned  agreement.  Thus  it  is  established,  by  the  treaty,  that 
*'  the  line  of  demarkation  between  the  possessions  of  the  high  contract- 
ing parties  upon  the  coast  of  the  continent,  and  the  islands  of 
America  to  the  north-west,"  shall  be  drawn  from  the  southernmost 
point  of  Prince  of  Wales's  Island,  in  latitude  of  54  degrees  40 


0    i 


*  This  convention   will  be  found  at  length  among  the  Proofs  and  Illustrations, 
in  the  concluding  part  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  K,  No.  4. 


1825.] 


TREATY    BETWEEN    GREAT    BRITAIN    AND    RUSSIA. 


343 


minutes  eastward,  to  the  great  inlet  in  the  continent,  called  Port- 
land Channel,  and  along  the  middle  of  that  inlet,  to  the  56th 
degree  of  latitude,  whence  it  shall  follow  the  summit  of  the  moun- 
tains bordering  the  coast,  within  ten  leagues,  north-westward,  to 
Mount  St.  Elias,  and  thence  north,  in  the  course  of  the  141st 
meridian  west  from  Greenwich,  to  the  Frozen  Ocean ;  "  which 
line,"  says  the  treaty,  "  shaU  form  the  limit  between  the  Russian 
and  the  British  possessions  in  the  continent  of  America  to  the  north- 
west ; "  it  being  also  agreed  that  the  British  should  forever  have 
the  right  to  navigate  any  streams  flowing  into  the  Pacific  from  the 
interior,  across  the  line  of  demarkatioiu* 

That  this  treaty  virtually  annulled  the  convention,  of  the  pre- 
ceding year,  between  Russia  and  the  United  States,  is  evident ;  for 
the  convention  rested  entirely  upon  the  assumption  that  the  United 
States  possessed  the  same  right  to  the  part  of  the  American  coast 
south  of  the  parallel  of  54  degrees  40  minutes,  which  Russia  pos- 
sessed to  the  part  north  of  that  parallel :  and  the  treaty  distinctly  ac- 
knowledged the  former  or  southern  division  of  the  coast  to  be  the 
property  of  Great  Britain.  It  does  not,  however,  appear  that  any 
representation  on  the  subject  was  addressed  by  the  American  gov- 
ernment to  that  of  Russia ;  and  the  vessels  of  the  United  States 
continued  to  frequent  all  the  unoccupied  parts  of  the  north-west 
coast,  and  to  trade  with  the  natives  uninterruptedly,  until  1834, 
wiien,  as  will  be  hereafter  shown,  they  were  formally  prohibited, 
by  the  Russian  authorities,  from  visiting  any  place  on  that  coast 
north  of  the  parallel  of  54  degrees  40  minutes,  on  the  ground  that 
their  right  to  do  so  had  expired,  agreeably  to  the  convention  of 
18-24. 

In  December,  1824,  President  Monroe,  in  his  last  annual  mes- 
sage to  Congress,  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  military  post 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  or  at  some  other  point  witiun  the 
acknowledged  limits  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  afford  pro- 
tection to  their  commerce  and  fisheries  in  the  Pacific,  to  conciliate 
the  Indians  of  the  north-west,  and  to  promote  the  intercourse  be- 


■* 


'i' 


'li 


10! 


:*:. 


■  1  f  •; 


'■   .'  ! 


*  See  Proofs  and  Illustrations,  at  the  end  of  this  volume,  under  the  letter  K,  No.  5. 
Some  curious  particulars  relative  to  the  nefrotiation  wliicli  led  to  this  treaty  may  be 
found  in  the  Political  Life  of  the  Hon.  George  Canninjr,  by  A.  G.  Stapleton,  chap. 
xiv.  Mr.  Canning,  it  seems,  was  an.vious  for  the  conclusion  of  a  joint  convention 
between  Great  Britain,  the  United  States,  and  Russia,  as  regards  the  freedom  of 
navigation  of  the  Pacific,  until  the  appearance  of  the  declaration  in  the  message  of 
President  Monroe  above  mentioned,  after  which  he  determined  only  to  treat  with 
each  of  the  other  parties  separately. 


I"t'- 

,mn 


I  i:.  i 


-!.     ! 


iU 


.'^ 


344 


MOVEMENTS    IN    CONiJBESS. 


[18->4. 


tween  those  territories  and  the  settled  portions  of  the  republic- 
to  effect  which  ohjcrt,  he  advised  lliat  appropriations  should  be 
made  for  the  despatcb  of  a  frigate,  with  engineers,  to  explore  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia  and  the  cadjacent  shores.  The  same 
measures  were,  in  the  following  year,  also  reconunended  by  Presi- 
dent Adams,  among  the  various  jjlans  for  the  advantage  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  world  in  general,  to  which  he  requested 
the  attention  of  Congress,  in  his  message,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  session.  In  compliance  with  this  recommendation,  a  com- 
mittee was  api)ointed  by  the  House  of  Representativ(!s,  the  chairniiia 
of  which,  Mr.  Haylies,  of  Massachusetts,  presented  two  icporls,* 
containing  numerous  details  with  respect  to  —  the  history  of  <liseove- 
ry  and  trade  in  North- West  America,  —  the  geography,  soil,  climate. 
productions,  and  iidiabitants,  of  the  portion  claimed  by  the  United 
States,  —  the  number  and  value  of  the  furs  procured  there,  —  the 
expenses  of  surveying  the  coasts  and  of  fonniiii;  military  estalihsh- 
ments  for  its  occupation,  and  many  other  matti'rs  relating  to  that 
part  of  the  world  :  in  consideration  whereof,  the  committee  intro- 
duced a  bill  for  the  immediate  execution  of  the  measures  ])ro|)()so(l 
by  the  president.  This  bill  was  laid  on  the  table  of  the  House,  and 
the  subject  was  not  again  agitated  in  Congress  mitil  18'28. 

Meanwhile,  the  period  of  ten  years,  during  which  the  countrii'. 
claimed  by  tlie  United  .States  or  by  Great  Britain,  west  of  the  Keckv 
Mountains,  n'ere,  agreeably  to  the  convention  of  IS  18,  to  remiiiu 
free  and  open  to  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  both  nations,  was  (haw- 
ing to  a  close  ;  and  a  strong  desire  was  n)anifested,  on  the  part  of 
the  American  government,  that  some  definitive  arrangement  with 
regard  to  those  countries  should  be  concluded  between  the  two 
powers,  before  the  expiration  of  ihe  term.  The  British  secretarv 
for  foreign  atlairs  also  signified  that  iiis  government  was  j)repar(d 
to  enter  into  a  new  discussion  of  the  (juestion  at  issue ;  and  a  iiego- 
.lation  with  these  objects  was  accordingly  commenced  betwetMi 
Mr.  Callatin.  Ilie  minister  pleni[)otentiary  of  the  United  States  at 
London,  and  Messrs.  Addington  and  Huskisi^on,  commissioners  on 
the  j)art  of  (Jreat  Britain. 

Before  relating  the  particulars  of  this  negotiation,  it  should  be 
observed  that  the  relative  positions  of  the  two  parties,  as  to  th( 
occupancy  and  actual  possession  of  the  coimtries  in  (juestion,  had 
been  materially  changed  since  the  conclusion  of  the  former  conven- 

*  Dated  fipvernlly  Jimunry  lOtli,  luid  May  15th,  1826. 


1826.]      BRITISH    IN    ^UIET    POSSESSION    OF    THE    COLUMBIA. 


345 


tion  between  them.  The  union  of  the  rival  British  companies,  and 
the  extension  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  Upper  Canada  over 
the  territories  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  had  already  proved 
most  advantageous  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which  had  at  the 
same  time  received  the  privilege  of  trading  in  that  territory,  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  other  British  snbjects.  Great  efforts  were  made, 
and  vast  expenses  were  incurred,  by  this  company,  in  its  efforts  to 
found  settlements  on  the  Columbia  River,  and  to  acquire  influence 
over  the  natives  of  the  surrounding  country  ;  and  so  successful  had 
been  those  efforts,  that  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  were 
obliged,  not  only  to  renounce  all  ideas  of  renewing  their  estab- 
lishments in  that  part  of  America,  but  even  to  withdraw  their 
vessels  from  its  coasts.  Indeed,  for  more  than  ten  years  after  the 
capture  of  Astoria  by  the  British,  scarcely  a  single  American  citizen 
was  to  be  seen  in  those  countries.  Trading  expeditions  were  sub- 
sequently made  from  Missouri  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Platte 
and  the  Colorado,  "/ithin  the  limits  of  California,  and  one  or  two 
hundred  hunters  and  trappers,  from  the  United  States,  were  gen- 
erally roving  through  that  region ;  but  the  Americans  had  no 
settlements  of  any  kind,  and  their  government  exercised  no  juris- 
diction whatsoever  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Under  such  favorable  circumstances,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
could  not  fail  to  prosper.  Its  resources  were  no  longer  wasted  in 
disputes  with  rivals ;  its  operations  were  conducted  with  despatch 
and  certainty  ;  its  posts  were  extended,  and  its  means  of  communi- 
cation increased,  under  the  assurance  that  the  honor  of  the  British 
government  and  nation  was  thereby  more  strongly  interested  in  its 
behalf.  The  agents  of  the  company  were  seen  in  every  part  of  the 
continent,  north  and  north-west  of  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  hunting,  trapping,  and  trading 
with  the  aborigines ;  its  boats  were  met  on  every  stream  and  lake, 
conveying  British  goods  into  the  interior,  or  furs  to  the  great  deposi- 
tories on  each  ocean,  for  shipment  to  England  in  British  vessels ; 
and  the  utmost  order  and  regularity  were  maintained  throughout  by 
the  supremacy  of  British  laws.  Of  the  trading  posts,  many  were 
fortified,  and  could  be  defended  by  their  inmates  —  men  inured  lo 
hardships  and  dangers  —  against  all  attacks  which  might  be  appre- 
hended ;  and  the  whole  vast  expanse  of  territory  above  described, 
including  the  regions  drained  by  the  Columbia,  was,  in  fact,  occu- 
pied by  British  forces,  and  governed  by  British  laws,  though  there 
44 


!  i        J| 


''■I 


1 


t'  I 


m 


".;,;i.i 


'4  I       ,1'!     . 


.i:  ' 


'  4  ,^i 


m  u- 


V     •   ■ 


t^  \ 


:)i 


346 


NEGOTIATION    AT    LONDON. 


[18-26. 


was  not  a  single  British  soldier  —  technically  speaking  —  within 
its  limits. 

Considering  this  state  of  things,  and  also  the  characters  of  the 
two  nations  engaged  in  the  controversy  and  of  their  governments, 
it  may  readily  be  supposed  that  many  and  great  obstacles  would 
exist  in  the  way  of  a  definitive  and  amicable  arrangement  of  the 
questions  at  issue,  between  the  Americans  ever  solicitous  with 
respect  to  territory  wnich  they  have  any  reason  to  regard  as  their 
own,  and  the  British  with  whom  the  acquisition  and  security  of 
commercial  advantages  always  form  a  paramount  object  of  policy. 
To  the  difficulties  occasioned  by  the  conflict  of  such  material 
interests,  in  this  particular  case,  were  added  those  arising  from  the 
pride  of  the  parties,  and  their  mutual  jealousy,  which  seems  ever  to 
render  them  adverse  to  any  settlement  of  a  disputed  point,  even 
though  it  should  be  manifestly  advantageous  to  them  both. 

In  the  first  conference,*  the  British  commissioners  declared  that 
their  government  was  still  ready  to  abide  by  the  proposition  made 
to  Mr.  Rush,  in  1824,  for  a  line  of  separation  between  the  territories 
of  the  two  nations,  drawn  from  the  Rocky  Mountains,  along  the 
49th  parallel  of  latitude  to  the  north-easternmost  branch  of  the 
Columbia,  and  thence  down  that  river  to  the  sea ;  giving  to  Great 
Britain  all  the  territories  north,  and  to  the  United  States  all  south, 
of  that  line.  Mr.  Gallatin,  in  reply,  agreeably  to  instructions  from 
his  government,  repeated  the  offer  made  by  himself  and  Mr.  Rush, 
in  1818,  for  the  adoption  of  the  49th  parallel  as  the  line  of  separa- 
tion from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific,  with  the  additional 
provisions,  —  that,  if  the  said  line  should  cross  any  of  the  branches 
of  the  Columbia  at  points  from  which  they  are  navigable  by  boats 
to  the  main  stream,  the  navigation  of  such  brandies,  and  of  the 
main  stream,  should  be  perpetually  free  and  common  to  the  people 
of  both  nationr>  —  that  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  neither  party 
should  thenceforward  make  any  settlements  in  the  territories  of  the 
other ;  but  that  all  settlements  already  formed  by  tiie  people  of 
either  nation  within  the  limits  of  the  other,  might  be  occupied  and 
used  by  them  for  ten  years,  and  no  longer,  during  which  all  the 
remaining  provisions  of  the  existing  convention  should  continue  in 
force.  The  British  refused  to  accede  to  this  or  any  other  plan  of 
partition  which  should  deprive  them  of  the  northern  bank  of  the 

*  President  Adams's  message  to  Congress  of  December  28th,  1827,  and  the  ac- 
companying documents. 


-  ;  .it,     a  .'§',  %'.  •  i 


4;  =1  1  - 


1826.] 


NEGOTIATION    SUSPENDED. 


347 


Columbia,  and  the  right  of  navigating  that  river  to  and  from  the 
sea ;  though  they  expressed  their  vviUingness  to  yield  to  the  United 
States,  in  addition  to  what  they  first  offered,  a  detached  territory, 
extending,  or  the  Pacific  and  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  from  Bulfinch's 
Harbor  to  Hood's  Canal,  and  to  stipulate  that  no  works  should  at 
any  time  be  erected  at  the  mouth  or  on  the  banks  of  the  Columbia, 
calculated  to  impede  the  free  navigation  of  that  river,  by  either 
party.  The  Americans,  however,  being  equally  determined  not  to 
give  up  their  title  to  any  part  of  the  country  south  of  the  49th  par- 
allel, all  expectation  of  effecting  a  definitive  disposition  of  the  claims 
was  abandoned. 

The  plenipotentiaries  then  directed  their  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject of  a  renewal  of  the  arrangement  for  the  use  and  occupancy 
of  the  territories  in  question  by  the  people  of  both  nations.  With 
this  view,  the  British  proposed  that  the  existing  arrangement 
should  be  renewed  according  to  the  terms  of  the  third  article 
of  the  convention  of  October  20th,  1818,  for  fifteen  years  from 
the  date  of  the  expiration  of  that  convention ;  with  the  addi- 
tional provisions,  however,  that,  during  those  fifteen  years,  neither 
power  should  assume  or  exercise  any  right  of  exclusive  sovereignty 
or  dominion  over  any  part  of  the  territory  ;  and  that  no  settlement 
then  made,  or  which  might  thereafter  be  made,  by  either  nation 
in  those  countries,  should  ever  be  adduced  in  support  of  any 
claim  to  such  sovereignty  or  dominion.  This  proposition  was  re- 
ceived by  Mr.  Gallatin  for  reference  to  his  government,  although 
he  sav/  a*  once  that  the  additional  provisions  were  inadmissible  ;  and 
the  negotiation  was,  in  consequence,  suspended  for  some  months. 

During  this  first  period  of  the  negotiation,  the  claims  and  pre- 
tensions of  the  two  nations  respecting  the  countries  ii:  question,  were 
developed  and  discussed  more  fully  than  on  any  previous  occasion, 
not  only  in  the  conferences  between  the  plenipotentiaries,  but  also 
in  written  statements,*''  formally  presented  on  each  side.     As  nearly 


i< 

i 
1 

1 
r' 

.:     1    i 

ii  '  1 

i 


I'H  1 


^1).    ! 


■:i  V 


th,  1827,  and  the  ac- 


*  The  statement  of  the  British  commissioners  is  \,:  sented  entire  in  the  Proofs  and 
Illustrations,  under  the  letter  H,  in  ordi.  •  *  no  doubt  may  subsist  as  to  the  nature 
of  the  claims  of  Great  Britain,  and  of  vidence  and  arguments  by  which  they 

are  supported.  As  a  state  paper,  it  will,  ^  ps,  be  found  unworthy  of  the  nation  on 
whose  part  it  was  produced,  and  of  at  least  one  of  the  persons  from  whom  it  pro- 
ceeded ;  many  will  regret  to  see  appended  to  it  the  name  of  William  Huskisson,  and 
to  learn  that  it  received  the  approval  of  George  Canning. 

The  counter -statevierd  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  a  most  able  document,  is  omitted  only  be- 
cause its  insertion  would  have  too  much  increased  the  bulk  of  the  volume. 


343 


CLAIMS    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES. 


[1826. 


every  point  touched  by  either  of  the  parties  has  been  already  ex- 
amined minutely  in  the  foregoing  pages,  it  only  remains  now  to 
recapitulate  them,  and  to  add  some  remarks,  which  could  not 
have  been  conveniently  introduced  at  an  earlier  period. 

Mr.  Gallatin  claimed  for  the  United  States  the  possession  of  the 
territory  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  between  the  42d  and  the 
49th  parallels  of  latitude,  on  the  grounds  of — 

The  acquisition  by  the  United  States  of  the  titles  of  France 
through  the  Louisiana  treaty,  and  the  titles  of  Spain  through  the 
Florida  treaty ; 

The  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  the  first  explora- 
tion of  the  countries  through  which  that  river  flows,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  first  posts  and  settlements  in  those  countries  by 
American  citizens ; 

Tiie  i4rtual  recognition  of  the  title  of  the  United  States,  by  the 
British  government,  in  the  restitution,  agreeably  to  the  first  article 
of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  of  the  post  nea*-  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia, 
which  had  been  taken  during  the  war ; 

And.  lastly,  upon  the  ground  of  contis^uity,  which  should  givo  the 
United  States  a  stronger  right  to  those  territories  than  could  be 
advanced  by  any  other  power  —  a  doctrine  always  maintained  by 
Great  Britain,  from  the  poriod  of  her  tarlicst  attempts  at  roloni/n- 
tion  in  America,  as  clearly  proved  by  licr  chiirtcrs,  in  wliicli  the 
whole  breadth  of  the  continent,  hotwocn  certain  parallels  of  lati- 
tude, was  granted  to  colonies  established  only  at  points  on  the 
borders  of  the  Atlantic* 

Messrs.  Huskisson  and  Addinjiton,  on  the  other  hand,  declared 
that  Great  Britain  claims  no  exclusive  sovereignty  over  any  portinii 
of  the  territory  on  the  Pacific  between  the  4-2d  and  the  49th  paral- 
lels of  latitude  ;  her  present  claim,  not  in  res[)ect  to  any  part,  but 
to  the  whole,  being  limited  to  a  right  of  joint  occupancy,  in  com- 
mon with  other  states,  leaving  the  right  of  exclusive  dominion  in 
abeyance.  They  then  proceeded  to  examine  the  grounds  of  the 
claims  of  the  United  States,  none  of  which  they  admitted  to  be 

*  "If,"  says  Mr.  (lallatin,  "sonic  tradiiiir  factDiii's  on  llic  sliort's  of  Hudson's  Ihv 
have  been  considered  by  Great  Britain  as  irivinir  an  exclusive  rii;ht  of  oef  upancv  us 
far  as  tlie  Rocky  Mf)untains;  if  liie  infant  sefllenierits  on  the  mure  soiitliern  Atlantii: 
shores  justified  a  claim  thence  to  the  South  Seas,  and  winch  was  actually  enforced  to 
the  Mississippi,  —  that  of  the  millions  already  within  reach  of  those  seas  cannot  con- 
sistently be  rejected."  This  argument,  it  may  be  added,  haa  been  since  constantly 
increasing  in  force. 


♦ 


i; : 


been  already  ex- 
remains  now  to 
vhich   could  not 
period. 

possession  of  the 
he  42d  and  the 

titles  of  France 
pain  through  the 

the  first  explora- 
s,  and  the  estab- 
lose  countries  by 

ed  States,  by  the 

)  the  first  article 

of  the  Columbia, 

ih  should  givo  the 
es  than  could  be 
vs  maintained  by 
npts  at  rolonizji- 
rs,  in  which  the 
parallels  of  lati- 
at  points  on   the 

r  hand,  declared 

over  any  portion 

id  the  49th  paral- 

to  any  part,  but 

cupancy,  in  com- 

sivf  dominion  in 

ijrrounds  of  the 

uduiiltcd  to  be 


<  of  I  ludson's  H^.v 
lit  dl'  ocoupaiicy  ;is 
uri'  sotithern  Atlaiitii; 
s  actually  enforced  to 
liDse  seas  cannot  con- 
)een  since  constantly 


1826.] 


CLAIMS    OF    UUEAT    BHITAIN. 


349 


valid,  except  that  acquired  from  Spain,  through  the  Florida  treaty, 
in  1819 ;  and  the  right  thus  acquired  they  pronounced  to  be  nothing 
more  than  the  right  secured  to  Spain,  in  common  with  Great  Brit- 
ain, by  the  JNootka  convention,  in  1790,  to  trade  and  settle  in  any 
part  of  those  countries,  and  to  navigate  thei.  waters.  Dismissing 
the  claims  of  Spain,  on  the  grounds  of  discovery,  prior  to  1790, 
as  futile  and  visionary,  and  inferior  to  those  of  Great  Britain  on  the 
same  grounds,  they  maintained  that  all  arguments  and  pretensions 
of  either  of  those  powers,  whether  resting  on  discovery  or  on  any 
other  consideration,  were  definitively  set  at  rest  by  the  Nootka 
convention,  after  the  signature  of  which,  the  title  was  no  longer  to 
be  traced  in  vague  discoveries,  several  of  them  admitted  to  be 
apocryphal,  but  in  the  text  and  stipulations  of  that  convention 
itself ;  and  that,  as  the  Nootka  convention  applied  to  all  parts  of  the 
north-west  coast  of  America  not  occupied,  in  1790,  by  either  of 
the  parties,  it  of  course  included  any  portion  of  Louisiana  which 
might  then  have  extended,  on  the  Pacific,  north  of  the  northern- 
most Spanish  settlement,  and  which  could  not,  therefore,  be  claimed 
by  the  United  States,  in  virtue  of  the  treaty  for  the  cession  of  Lou- 
isiiina  to  that  republic,  in  1803. 

Having  assumed  this  ground,  it  was  scarcely  necessary  for  the 
British  plenipotentiaries  to  go  further  into  the  examination  of  the 
tiilfs  of  the  United  States;  and  they  probably  acted  on  this  suppo- 
sition, as  it  is  otherwise  impossible  to  account  for  the  gross  mis- 
statements with  rt^irard  to  the  discoveries  of  the  Americans,  the 
extravagant  and  unfounded  assumptions,  and  the  illogical  deduc- 
tions, in  the  document  presented  by  them  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  on  the 
part  of  their  government.  Thus,  with  regard  to  the  discovery  of 
the  mouth  of  the  Cohunbia;  they  insisted  that  •'  Mr.  Meares,  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  royal  navy,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  East  India 
Company  on  a  trading  expedition  to  the  north-west  coasts  of 
America,"  really  etlected  that  <lis'ov(Y\  lour  years  before  Gray  is 
even  pretended  to  have;  entered  the  river;*  thovigh  they  indeed 
admitted  that  "  Mr.  (jray,  finding  himself  in  the  bay  formed  by  the 
discharge  of  th<?  waters  of  the  Columl)ia  into  the  Pacific,  was  the 
fust  to  ascertain  that  this  bay  formed  the  outlet  nf  a  i>;reat  river,  a 
discovery  which  had  escaped  Lieutenant  Meares  "  when  he  entered 
the  same  bay  ;  but  that,  even  supposing  the  priority  of  Gray's  dis- 
covery lO  be  proved,  it  was  of  no  cons(;(|nence  in  the  case,  as  the 


i^-- 


i 


i'i 


Ml 


See  p.  177. 


i 

:;Jl 

'\ 

ml 

iiii 


riir-' 


.^       J!     ! 


*^,i.'- ' 


■;/■ 


I 


350 


CLAIMS    OV    GKBAT    BUITAIN. 


[18ii6. 


country  in  which  it  was  made  "  fulls  within  the  provisions  of  the 
convention  of  1790."  They  refused  to  allow  that  the  claims  of  the 
United  States  are  strengthened  by  the  exploration  of  the  country 
thniugh  which  the  Columbia  flows,  as  performed  in  1805-6  by 
Lewis  and  Clarke,  "  because,  if  not  before,  at  least  in  the  same  and 
subsequent  years,"  the  agents  of  the  North-West  Company  had 
established  posts  on  the  northern  branch  of  the  river,  and  were 
extending  them  down  to  its  mouth,  when  they  heard  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  American  post  at  that  place  in  1811.*  That  the  restora- 
tion of  Astoria,  in  1818,  conveyed  a  virtual  acknowledgment  by 
Great  Britain  of  the  title  of  the  United  States  to  the  country  j.i 
which  that  post  is  situated,  was  also  denied,  on  the  ground  that 
letters  protesting  against  such  title  were,  at  the  time  of  the  restora- 
ticn,  addressed,  by  members  of  the  British  ministry,  to  British  agents 
in  the  United  States  and  on  the  Columbia.f  It  is  needless  to  add 
any  thing  to  what  has  been  already  said  on  these  points,  in  order 
to  prove  the  entire  groundlessness  of  the  assertions  contained  in  the 
British  statement  with  regard  to  them. 

The  charters  granted  by  the  sovereigns  of  Great  Britain  and 
France,  conveying  to  individuals  or  companies  large  tracts  of  terri- 
tory in  America,  were  represented,  by  the  British  plenipotentiaries, 
as  being  nothing  "  more,  in  fact,  than  a  cession  to  the  grantee  or 
grantees  of  whatever  rights  the  grantor  might  suppose  himself  to 
possess,  to  the  exclusion  of  other  subjects  of  the  same  nation,—- 
binding  and  restraining  those  only  who  were  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  grantor,  and  of  no  force  or  validity  against  the  subjects 
of  other  states,  until  recognized  by  treaty,  and  thereby  becominj^  a 
part  of  international  law."  The  erroneousness  of  these  views 
is  obvious,  and  was  easily  demonstrated  by  Mr.  Gallatin,  who 
showed,  by  reference  to  the  history  of  British  colonization  and 
dominion  in  America,  that  the  royal  grantors  of  territories  in  that 
continent  did  consider  their  charters  as  binding  on  all,  whether  their 
own  subjects  or  not,  and  with  regard  to  countries  first  discovered 
and  settled  by  people  of  other  nations,  whenever  they  were  found 
to  be  within  the  limits  thus  indicated.  These  facts  were  cited,  not 
in  vindication  of  the  justice  of  those  grants,  but  merely  to  prove 
in  what  light  they  had  been  regarded  by  Great  Britain :  and,  if  the 
principle  thus  assumed  by  that  power,  and  maintained  from  1580 
to  1782,  as  relating  to  Atlantic  colonies,  were  correct,  she  could  not 


See  p.  297. 


t  See  p.  310. 


1826.] 


DETEKMTNATIONS    OF    GREAT    BRITAIN. 


351 


deny  its  application  to  th<;  United  States,  now  the  owners  of  Lou- 
isiana.* 

The  British  plenipotentiaries  worn,  however,  clear  and  explicit  as 
to  the  intentions  of  their  jjovcrnnieiit,  which  were  declared,  at  the 
conclusion  of  their  statenunit,  in  terms  of  moderation  and  forbear- 
ance truly  edifying.  Great  Britain,  they  assert,  claims,  at  present, 
nothing  more  than  the  rights  of  trade,  navigation,  and  settlement, 
in  the  part  of  the  world  under  consideration,  agreeably  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Nootka  convention,  the  basis  of  the  law  of  nations 
with  regard  to  those  territories  and  waters,  under  the  protection  of 
which  many  important  British  interests  have  grown  up ;  and  she 
admits  that  the  United  States  have  the  same  rights,  but  none  other, 
although  they  have  been  exercised  only  in  one  instance,  and  not 
at  all  since  1813.  In  the  territory  between  the  42d  and  the  49th 
parallels  of  latitude,  are  many  British  posts  and  settlements,  for  the 
trade  and  supply  of  which,  the  free  navigation  of  the  Columbia, 
to  and  from  the  sea,  is  indispensable ;  the  United  States  possess 
not  a  single  post  or  settlement  of  any  kind  in  that  whole  region. 
Great  Britain,  nevertheless,  for  the  sake  of  peace  and  good  under- 
standing, agrees  to  submit  to  a  definitive  partition  of  that  territory, 
giving  to  the  United  States  the  whole  division  south  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, and  a  large  tract  containing  an  excellent  harbor,  north  of 
that  river ;  and,  the  United  States  having  declined  to  accede  to  this 
proposition,  it  only  remains  for  Great  Britain  to  maintain  and  up- 

*  "This  construction  does  not  appear  cither  to  have  been  tliat  intended  at  the  time 
by  the  grantors,  or  to  liave  iroverned  ttie  subsequent  conduct  of  Great  Britain.  By 
excepting  from  the  grants,  as  was  gc^nerally  the  case,  such  lands  as  were  already  oc- 
cupied by  the  subjects  of  other  civilized  nations,  it  was  rlearly  implied  that  no  other 
exception  was  contemplated,  and  that  the  grants  were  intended  to  include  all  unoccu- 
pied lands  within  their  respective  boundaries,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  oth'T  persons  or 
nations  whatsoever.  In  point  of  fact,  the  whole  country  drained  bj  the  several  rivers 
emptying  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the  mouths  of  which  were  within  those  charters, 
has,  from  Hudson's  Bay  to  Florida,  and,  it  is  believed,  without  exception,  been  occu- 
pied and  held  by  virtue  of  those  charters.  Not  only  has  this  principle  been  fully 
confirmed,  but  it  has  been  notoriously  euiorced  much  beyond  the  sources  of  the  rivers 
on  which  the  settlements  were  formed.  The  priority  of  the  French  settlements  on 
the  rivers  flowing  wcstwardly  from  the  Alleghany  Mountains  into  the  Mississippi  was 
altogether  disregarded  ;  and  the  rights  of  the  Atlantic  colonies  to  extend  beyond  those 
mountains,  as  growing  out  of  the  contiguity  of  territory,  and  as  asserted  in  the  earliest 
charters,  was  effectually  and  s>icce.ssfully  enforced." 

Tiie  American  minister  might  also  have  cited  the  charters  granted  to  the  Virginia 
Company  by  King  James  I.,  in  KlOit  and  1611,  in  virtue  of  which,  the  Dutch  settle- 
ments on  the  Hudson  River,  in  a  country  first  discovered,  explored,  and  occupied, 
under  the  flag  of  the  United  Provinces,  were,  in  IGCM,  —  forty  years  afler  the  disso- 
lution of  the  company,  —  durin<r  peace  between  the  two  nations,  seized  by  British 
forces,  as  being  included  in  the  territories  conceded  to  that  company. 


( 


f;i:S 


k>      i 


iV  1 


1!^    ; 


!ii  !i 


N 


352 


BRITISH    PROPOSITIONS    REJECTED. 


[18iiT. 


M 


hold  the  qualified  rights  which  she  now  possesses  over  the  whole  of 
the  territory  in  question.  **  To  the  interests  which  British  indiKstry 
and  enterprise  have  created  Great  Britain  owes  protection.  TImt 
protection  will  be  given,  both  as  regards  settlement  and  freedoni 
of  trade  and  navigation,  with  every  attention  not  to  infringe  the 
coordinate  rights  of  the  United  States ;  it  being  the  earnest  desire 
of  the  British  government,  so  long  as  the  joint  occupancy  con- 
tinues, to  regulate  its  own  obligations  by  the  same  rule  which 
governs  the  obligations  of  any  other  occupying  party."  Thus,  in 
1826,  the  British  government  based  its  claims,  with  regard  to  the 
territories  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  entirely  on  the  Nootka 
convention  of  1790,  and  the  acts  of  occupation  by  its  subjects 
under  that  agreement ;  the  abrogation  of  which,  by  the  war  between 
the  parties,  in  1796,  —  ten  years  before  a  single  spot  in  those  tdrito- 
ries  had  been  occupied  by  a  British  subject,  —  has  '^een  already  so 
fully  demonstrated,*  that  any  further  observation  luld  be  super- 
fluous. 

The  proposition  of  the  British  plenipotentiaries,  with  regard  to  the 
renewal  of  the  existing  arrangement  for  ten  years,  was  rejected  by 
the  president  of  the  United  States,f  on  the  grounds  —  that,  so  far  as 
it  would  tend  to  prevent  the  Americans  from  exercising  exclusive 
sovereignty  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  it  would  be  con- 
trary to  their  rights,  as  acknowledged  by  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  and 
by  the  restitution  of  the  place  agreeably  to  that  treaty ;  —  that  the 
proposed  additional  provisions  do  not  define,  but  leave  open  to 
disputation,  the  acts  which  might  be  deemed  an  exercise  of  exclu- 
sive sovereignty  ;  —  and  that,  from  the  nature  of  the  institutions  of 
the  United  States,  their  rights  in  the  territory  in  question  must  be 
protected,  and  their  citizens  must  be  secured  in  their  lawful  pursuits, 
by  some  species  of  government,  diflferent  from  that  which  it  has 
been,  or  may  be,  the  pleasure  of  Great  Britain  to  establish  there. 
Mr.  Gallatin,  on  the  24th  of  May,  18i«;7,  communicated  to  the 
British  commissioners  the  fact  of  the  rejection  of  their  proposition, 
and  the  reasons  for  it,  declaring,  at  the  same  time,  formally,  in 
obedience  to  special  instructions,  that  his  government  did  not  hold 
itself  bound  hereafter  in  consequence  of  any  proposal  which  it  had 
made  for  a  line  of  separation  between  the  territories  of  the  two 
nations  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  but  tvoidd  consider  itself  at 
liberty  to  contend  for  the  full  extent  of  the  claims  of  the  United  States. 

*  See  the  examinations  of  this  question,  at  pp  213,  257,  and  318. 

t  Letter  of  February  24th,  1827,  from  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay  to  Mr.  Gallatin. 


♦ 


I  1 


ivcr  the  whole  of 
I  British  induHtry 
protection.  Thut 
ent  and  freedom 
t  to  infringe  the 
the  earnest  desire 
occupancy  con- 
same  rule  which 
)arty."  Thus,  in 
ith  regard  to  the 
'  on  the  Nootka 
n  by  its  subjects 
J  the  war  between 
ot  in  those  tcirito- 
LS  Keen  already  so 
.)uld  be  super- 

with  regard  to  the 
3,  was  rejected  by 
Is  —  that,  so  far  as 
;ercising  exclusive 
it  would  be  con- 
ity  of  Ghent,  and 
reaty;  —  that  the 
lUt  leave  open  to 
exercise  of  exclu- 
the  institutions  of 
question  must  be 
eir  lawful  pursuits, 
that  which  it  has 
establish  there, 
municated  to  the 
their  proposition, 
time,  formally,  in 
ment  did  not  hold 
)osal  which  it  had 
tories  of  the  two 
consider  itself  at 
the  United  States. 

and  318. 

;iay  to  Mr.  Gallatin. 


1827.  J 


NEOOTIVriON    AT    LONDON    UKSL'.MKD. 


353 


The  British  pleni|>otcntiaries,  having  entered. on  the  protocol  of 
the  conferences  a  declaration  with  regard  to  the  previous  claims 
and  propositions  of  their  government,  similar  to  tint  nade  on  the 
part  of  the  United  Statis  by  Mr.  Gallatin  tKi.n  in  i  nuted  their 
readiness  to  agree  to  a  Him[)l(!  renewal  of  the  turms  of  the  existing 
arrangement,  for  ten  years  from  the  (hite  of  the  expiration  of  the 
convention  of  IdlH;  |)rovided,  however,  that,  in  so  doing,  they 
should  append  to  the  new  convention,  in  some  way,  a  declara- 
tion of  what  they  considered  to  be  its  true  intent,  namely,  —  that 
both  pnrlies  were  restricted,  during  its  continuance  in  force,  from 
exercising,  or  assuming  to  themselves  the  right  to  exercise,  any  exclu- 
sive sovereignty  or  jurisdiction  over  the  territories  mentioned  in  the 
agreement.  The  objections  to  this  arrangement  were  nearly  as 
strong  as  to  that  which  had  already  been  pi()j)osed  and  refused ; 
Mr.  Gallatin,  however,  desired  to  know  what  species  of  acts  the 
British  would  consider  as  an  exercise  of  exclusive  sovereignty  or 
jurisdiction.  In  reply,  ho  was  informed  that  Great  Britain  would 
not  complain  of  the  extension,  over  the  regions  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  of  the  jurisdiction  of  any  territory,  having  for  its  eastern 
boumlary  a  line  within  the  acknowledged  boundaries  of  the  United 
States;  provided  —  thut  no  custom-house  should  be  erected,  nor 
any  duties  or  charges  on  tonnage,  merchandise,  or  commerce,  be 
raised,  by  either  party,  in  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
—  that  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  the  two  powers  residing  in  or 
resorting  to  those  countries,  should  be  amen  ille  '.^uly  to  the  juris- 
diction of  their  own  nation  respectively  —  and  that  no  military 
post  should  be  establislieil  by  either  party  in  those  countries ;  or, 
at  least,  no  stich  j)ost  as  would  connnand  the  navigation  of  the 
Columbia  or  any  of  its  branches. 

To  the  first  of  these  conditions,  Mr.  Gallatin  saw  no  strong  reason 
to  object.  With  regard  to  the  second,  he  considered  it  indispensable 
that  the  respective  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  justice  should  be 
determined  by  positive  compact,  as  it  would  scarcely  be  possible 
otherwise  to  prevent  collisions ;  and  upon  the  third  condition,  he 
believed  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  correct  under- 
standing, as  the  British  government  would  not  admit  the  posts  of 
the  Hu'ison's  Bay  Company  to  be  military  establishments.  On  all 
these  points,  the  two  governments  might  afterwards  negotiate ; 
but  the  American  minister  refused  to  assent  to  any  declaration  or 
explanation  whatsoever  respecting  the  terms  under  which  the  terri- 
tories in  question  were  to  remain  open  to  the  people  of  the  two 
45 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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1-  'il 


354 


llENEWAL    OF    THE    CONVENTION    OF     1818. 


[If^'-JT. 


countries ;  and  the  British  were  equally  resolved  not  to  agree  to  a 
renewal  of  the  engagement  for  a  fixed  period  of  time,  without  such 
a  declaration. 

Finally,  on  the  6th  of  August,  1827,  a  convention  was  signed  by 
the  plenipotentiaries,  to  the  effect,  that  the  provisions  of  the  third 
article  of  the  convention  of  October  20th,  1818,  —  rendering  all 
the  territories  claimed  by  Great  Britain  or  by  the  United  States, 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  free  and  open  to  the  citizens  or 
subjects  of  both  nations  for  ten  years,  —  should  be  further  extended 
for  an  indefinite  period ;  either  party  being,  however,  at  liberty  to 
annul  and  abrogate  the  agreement,  on  giving  a  year's  notice  of  its 
intention  to  the  other.*  This  convention  was  submitted  to  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  in  the  following  winter,  and,  having 
been  approved  by  that  body,  it  was  immediately  ratified. 

In  relating  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  adoption  of  the 
convention  of  October,  1818,  the  opinion  was  expressed,  that  it  was 
perhaps  the  most  wise,  as  well  as  most  just,  arrangement  which 
could  then  have  been  made ;  and  this  renewal  of  the  arrangement 
for  an  indefinite  period,  leaving  each  of  the  parties  at  liberty  to 
abrogate  it,  after  a  reasonable  notice  to  the  other,  appears  to  merit 
the  same  commendation.  No  unworthy  concession  was  made. 
no  loss  of  dignity  or  right  was  sustained,  on  either  side ;  and  to 
break  the  amicable  and  mutually  profitable  relations,  then  subsistinjr 
between  the  two  coimtries,  on  a  question  of  mere  title  to  the  pos- 
session of  territories  from  which  neither  could  derive  any  immediate 
benefit  of  consequence,  would  have  been  impolitic  and  unrighteous. 
The  advantages  of  the  convention  were,  in  1827,  as  in  1818,  nearly 
equal  to  both  nations ;  but  the  difference  was,  on  the  whole,  in 
favor  of  the  United  States.  The  British  might,  indeed,  derive  more 
profit  from  the  fur  trade  as  carried  on  by  their  organized  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  than  the  Americans  could  expect  to  obtain  by  the 
individual  efforts  of  their  citizens ;  but  the  value  of  that  trade  is 
much  less  than  is  generally  supposed :  no  settlements  could  be 
formed  in  the  territory  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  by  whicli  it 
could  acquire  a  population,  while  the  arrangement  subsisted ;  and 
the  facilities  for  occupying  the  territory  at  a  future  period,  when  its 
occupation  by  the  United  States  should  become  expedient,  would 
undoubtedly  have  increased  in  a  far  greater  ratio  on  their  part  than 
on  that  of  Great  Britain.     For  the  diffioilties  which   must  arise 


f''"      I. 


Proofs  and  Illustrations,  letter  I,  No.  6. 


1829.] 


PROCEEDINGS    IN    CONGRESS. 


355 


whenever  the  conveniion  is  abrogated,  even  agreeably  to  the  man- 
ner therein  stipulated,  it  became,  of  course,  the  duty  of  each 
government  to  provide  in  time. 

In  the  session  of  Congress  following  that  in  which  the  new  con- 
vention with  Great  Britain  had  been  approved,  the  subject  of  the 
occupation  of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  was  again  discussed ; 
and,  after  a  long  series  of  debates,  in  which  the  most  eminent  mem- 
bers of  the  House  of  Representatives  took  part,  a  bill  was  reported, 
whereby  the  president  was  authorized  to  cause  the  territory  west 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  be  explored,  and  forts  and  garrisons  to 
be  established  in  any  proper  places,  between  the  parallels  of  42 
degrees  and  54  degrees  40  minutes ;  and  also  to  extend  the  juris- 
diction of  the  United  States  over  those  countries,  as  regards  citizens 
of  the  Union.  The  adoption  of  these  measures  was  urged,  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  government  to  make  good,  by 
occupation,  the  right  of  the  United  States,  which  was  pronounced 
unquestionable,  lest,  by  neglect,  the  country  should  fall  irrevocably 
into  the  possession  of  another  power,  which  had  unjustly  contested 
that  right :  and,  as  inducements  to  pursue  this  course,  pictures  most 
flattering  were  presented  of  the  soil,  climate,  and  productions,  of 
the  regions  watered  by  the  Columbia,  and  of  the  various  advantages 
which  would  be  secured  to  the  citizens  of  the  Union  engaged  in  the 
trade  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  by  the  settlement  of  those  coasts.  The 
bill  was  opposed,  as  infringing  the  convention  recently  concluded 
with  Great  Britain ;  in  addition  to  which,  it  was  contended,  that, 
were  all  opposition  on  the  part  of  that  or  other  powers  removed, 
and  the  right  of  the  United  States  established  and  universally 
recognized,  the  occupation  of  the  countries  in  question  in  the 
manner  proposed,  would  be  useless,  from  their  extreme  barrenness, 
from  the  dangers  to  navigation  presented  by  their  coasts,  and  from 
the  difficulty  of  communicating  with  them  either  by  sea  or  by  land  ; 
and  such  occupation  might  be  injurious,  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States  would  be  thus  induced  to  settle  in  those  countries,  and  their 
government  would  find  itself  bound  to  protect  and  maintain  them, 
at  great  expense,  without  a  commensurate  advancement  of  the  pub- 
lic good.  In  the  course  of  the  debates,  several  amendments  were 
proposed  to  the  bill,  but  it  was  finally  rejected  on  the  9th  of 
January,  1829 ;  and,  for  many  years  afterwards,  very  little  atten- 
tion was  bestowed,  by  any  branch  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  to  matters  connected  with  the  territories  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains. 


iff' 


I 


!, 

','■.1  t 


li! 


ri 


1"! 


tr 


tli: 


!^  I;.i 


;  ■ 

i] 

fmi 

/llilii 

^' 

35G 


CHAPTER    XVII. 


18-23  TO  1844 


Few  Citizens  of  the  United  States  in  the  Counlrion  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
between  1813  and  1823  — Trading  Expeditions  of  Ashley,  Bublette,  Smith,  Pilcher, 
Fattie,  Bonneville,  and  Wy(<tli  — Missionaries  from  tiie  United  States  form  Estab- 
lishments on  the  Columbia— First  Printiui;'  Pn-ss  set  nji  in  Orejron  —  Opposi- 
tion of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Comi)any  to  tlir  Amerieans;  hhw  exerted  —  Contro- 
versy between  the  United  States  and  llnsHia— Uispuie  between  the  Hudson's 
Bay  and  tlie  Russian  American  Companies;  hnv  Icrniiiiated  — California ;  Cap- 
ture of  Monterey  by  ("Commodore  Jones  — Tlie  Sandwich  Islands;  Proceedinjrs  of 
the  Missionaries ;  Kxpnlsion  of  the  Catholic  Priests,  and  their  Reinstatement  by  a 
French  Force  — The  Sandwich  Islands  U'niporarily  occupied  by  the  British. 


It  has  already  been  said,  that,  durina:  the  ten  years  immediately 
following  the  dissolution  of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company,  and  the 
seizure  of  its  establishments  on  the  Columbia  by  the  British,  few, 
if  any,  citizens  of  the  United  States  entered  the  countries  west 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  although,  within  that  period,  the  facilities 
for  communication  between  those  countries  and  the  settled  portions 
of  the  American  Union  had  been  increased  by  the  introduction  of 
steam  vessels  on  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributary  rivers.  Nearly 
all  the  trade  of  the  regions  of  the  Upper  Missji^sippi  and  the 
Missouri  was  then  carried  on  by  the  old  North  American  Fur 
Company,  at  the  head  of  which  Mr.  Astor  still  remained ;  and  by 
another  association,  called  the  Columbia  Fur  Company,  formed  in 
1822,  composed  principally  of  persons  who  had  been  in  the  service 
of  the  North- West  Company,  and  were  dissatisfied  with  their  new 
masters.  The  Columbia  Company  established  several  posts  on  the 
upper  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri,  and  the  Yellowstone, 
which  were,  however,  transferred  to  the  North  American  Company, 
on  the  junction  of  the  two  bodies  in  1826.  The  Americans  had  also 
begun  to  trade  with  the  northernmost  provinces  of  Mexico,  before 
the  overthrow  of  the  Spanish  authority  in  that  country ;  after  which 
event,  large  caravans  passed  regularly,  in  each  summer,  between 
St.  Louis  and  Santa  Fe,  the  capital  of  New  Mexico,  on  the  head- 
waters of  tlie  River  Bravo  del  Norti';. 


Y 


)mpany,  formed  in 


1826.1 


TUADINIJ    F.XPKOITIONS    OK    ASHLEY. 


357 


The  first  attempt  to  reestablish  commercial  communication? 
between  the  United  States  and  the  territories  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  was  made  by  W.  H.  Ashley,  of  St.  Louis,  who  had  been, 
for  some  time  previous,  engaged  in  the  fur  trade  of  the  Missouri  and 
Yellowstone  countries.  He  quitted  the  state  of  Missouri  in  the 
spring  of  1823,  at  the  head  of  a  large  party  of  men,  with  horses 
carrying  merchandise  and  baggage,  and  proceeded  up  the  Platt6 
River,  to  the  sources  of  its  northern  branch,  called  the  Sweet  Water, 
which  had  not  been  previously  explored.  These  sources  were  found 
to  be  situated  in  a  remarkable  valley,  or  cleft,  in  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, in  the  latitude  of  4*2  degrees  20  minutes ;  and  immediately 
beyond  them  were  discovered  those  of  another  stream,  flowing 
south-westward,  called  by  the  Indians  Sidskadee,  and  by  the 
Americans  Green  River,  which  proved  to  be  one  of  the  head- 
waters of  the  Colorado  of  California.  In  the  country  about  these 
streams,  which  had  not  then  been  frequented  by  the  British  traders, 
Mr.  Ashley  passed  the  summer,  with  his  men,  employed  in  trap- 
ping, and  in  bartering  goods  for  skins  with  the  natives  ;  and,  before 
the  end  of  the  year,  he  brought  back  to  St.  Louis  a  large  and  valu- 
able stock  of  furs. 

In  1824,  Mr.  Ashley  made  another  expedition  up  the  Platte, 
and  through  the  cleft  in  the  mountains,  which  has  since  been  gen- 
erally called  the  Southern  Pass  ;  and  then,  advancing  farther  west, 
he  reached  a  great  collection  of  salt  water  called  the  Utah  Lake, 
(probably  the  Lake  Timpanogos,  or  Lake  Tegayo,  of  the  old  Spanish 
maps,)  which  lies  imbosomed  among  lofty  mountains,  between  the 
40th  and  the  42d  parallels  of  latitude.  Near  this  lake,  on  the 
south-east,  he  found  another  and  smaller  one,  to  which  he  gave  his 
own  name  ;  and  there  he  built  a  fort,  or  trading  post,  in  which  he  left 
about  a  hundred  men,  when  he  returned  to  Missouri  in  the  autumn. 
Two  years  afterwards,  a  six-pound  cannon  was  drawn  from  Mis- 
souri to  this  fort,  a  distance  of  more  than  twelve  hundred  miles ; 
and,  in  1828,  many  wagons,  heavily  laden,  performed  the  same 
journey. 

During  the  three  years  between  1824  and  1827,  the  men  left  by 
Mr.  Ashley  in  the  country  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  collected 
and  sent  to  St.  Louis  furs  to  the  value  of  more  than  one  hundred 
and  eighty  thousand  dollars ;  this  enterprising  man  then  retired  from 
the  trade,  and  sold  all  his  interests  and  establishments  to  the  Rocky 
Mountain  Company,  at  the  head  of  which  were  Messrs.  Smith, 
Jackson,  and  Sublette,  persons  not  less  energetic  and  determined. 


f 


■    f.. 


),.   ■I'l 


ii 


4:: 


I 


V. 


Vf.  t 


:  Sh   1  I'  i 


1; 

I  t 


0' 

U' 

358 


TUADING      r.XP/DITION     OF     PILCHGR. 


(1828. 


k!t- 


jiiri.;:. 


These  traders  carried  on  for  many  years  an  extensive  and  profit- 
able  business,  in  the  course  of  uiiicli  they  traversed  every  part 
of  the  country  about  the  southern  branch  of  the  Columbia,  and 
nearly  the  whole  of  continental  California.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, they  made  no  astronomical  observations,  and,  being  unac- 
quainted with  any  branch  of  physical  science,  very  little  information 
has  been  derived  through  their  means.  Smith,  after  twice  crossing 
the  continent  to  the  Pacific,  was  murdered,  in  the  summer  of  18-29, 
by  the  Indians  north-west  of  the  Utah  liake. 

These  active  proceedings  of  the  Missouri  fur  traders  roused 
the  spirit  of  the  North  American  Company,  which  also  extended  its 
operations  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  though  no  establishments 
were  formed  by  its  agents  in  those  countries ;  and  many  expeditions 
were  made,  in  the  same  direction,  by  independent  parties,  of  wjiose 
adventures,  narratives,  more  or  less  exact  and  interesting,  have  bcon 
published.  In  18-27,  Mr.  Pilcher  went  from  Council  Bluffs,  on  the 
Missouri,  with  forty-five  men,  and  more  than  a  hundred  horses ;  and, 
having  crossed  the  great  dividing  chain  of  mountains  by  the  South- 
ern Pass,  he  spent  the  winter  on  the  Colorado.  In  the  following 
year,  he  proceeded  to  the  Lewis  River,  and  thence,  northwardly, 
along  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  on  their  western  side,  to 
the  Flathead  Lake,  near  the  47th  degree  of  latitude,  which  he 
describes  as  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  formed  by  the  expansion  of 
the  Clarke  River,  in  a  rich  and  extensive  valley,  surrounded  by  hi^h 
mountains.  There  he  remained  until  the  spring  of  18-29,  when 
he  descended  the  Clarke  to  Fort  Colville,  an  establishment  tiion 
recently  formed  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  on  the  northern 
branch  of  the  Columbia,  at  its  falls ;  and  thence  he  returned  to  the 
United  States,  through  the  long  and  circuitous  route  of  the  Upper 
Columbia,  the  Athabasca,  the  Assinaboin,  Red  River,  and  the  Upper 
Missouri.  The  countries  thus  traversed  by  Mr.  Pilcher  have  all 
become  comparatively  well  known  from  the  accounts  of  subsequent 
travellers ;  but  very  little  information  had  been  given  to  the  world 
respecting  them  before  the  publication  of  his  concise  narrative* 
The  account  of  the  rambles  of  J.  O.  Pattie,  a  Missouri  fur  trader, 
through  New  Mexico,  Ciiihuahua,  Sonora,  and  California,  published 
in  18l}'2,  throws  some  light  on  the  geography  of  j)arts  of  those 
countries  of  which  little  can  as  yet  be  learned  from  any  other 
source.  During  his  peregrinations,  Pattie  several  tinjes  crossed  the 
great  dividing  chain  of  mountains  between  New  Mexico  on  the 


*  Published  with  President  Jackson's  message  to  Congress,  .?r<".n;iry  'Jlld,  1829. 


i^ 


I. 


[1828. 


1834.] 


PLANS    OF    WYETU    KOH   THE    ORKGON    TRADE. 


359 


iiisivc  and  profit- 
ersed  every  part 
e  Columbia,  and 
fortunately,  how- 
md,  being  unac- 
littlc  information 
:er  twice  crossing 
summer  of  18-29, 

ir  traders  roused 
also  extended  its 
no  establishments 
many  expeditions 
parties,  of  whose 
resting,  have  bcon 
icil  Bluffs,  on  the 
idred  horses ;  and, 
lins  by  the  South- 
In  the  following 
;nce,  northwardly, 
r  western  side,  to 
ititude.  whicii  he 
the  expansion  of 
irrounded  by  iiiirh 
of   18-29,  when 
stablishment  then 
on  the  northern 
le  returned  to  the 
ute  of  the  Upper 
er,  and  the  Upper 
Pilcher  have  all 
nts  of  subsequent 
ven  to  the  world 
nncise  narrative.* 
souri  fur  trader, 
lifornia,  published 
)f  parts  of  those 
from  any  other 
limes  erosseil  the 
.Mexico  on  the 

'  ■-.nary '?;^d,  1829. 


east,  and  Sonora  and  California  on  the  west,  and  descended  and 
ascended  the  Colorado,  and  its  principal  tributaries,  which  lie  de- 
scribes as  being  navigable  by  boats  for  considerable  distances.  He 
also  made  trips  across  Sonora  to  the  Californian  Gulf,  and  across 
California  to  the  Pacific,  as  well  as  through  the  Mexican  provinces 
on  the  coasts  of  that  ocean,  where  he  suffered  imprisonment  and 
many  other  hardships  from  the  tyranny  of  the  authorities. 

In  1832,  Captain  Bonneville,  of  the  army  of  the  United  States, 
while  on  furlough,  led  a  band  of  more  than  a  hundred  men,  with 
twenty  w.igons,  and  many  horses  and  mules,  carrying  merchandise 
from  Missouri  to  the  countries  of  the  Colorado  and  the  Columbia, 
in  which  he  passed  more  than  two  years,  engaged  in  hunting,  trap- 
ping, and  trading.* 

About  the  same  time,  Captain  Wyeth,  of  Massachusetts,  en- 
deavored to  establish  a  regular  system  of  commercial  intercourse 
between  the  states  of  the  Union  and  the  countries  of  the  Columbia, 
to  which  latter  the  general  name  of  OREGON  then  began  to  be 
nniversally  applied  in  the  United  States.  His  plan,  like  that  devised 
by  Mr.  Astor  in  1810,  was  to  send  manufactured  goods  to  the 
Pacific  countries,  and  from  thence  to  transport  to  the  United  States, 
and  even  to  China,  not  only  furs,  but  also  the  salmon  which  abound 
in  the  rivers  of  North- Western  America.  With  these  objects,  he 
made  two  expeditions  over  land  to  tiie  Columbia,  in  the  latter  of 
whicii  he  founded  a  trading  post,  called  Fort  Hall,  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Snake  or  Lewis  branch  of  that  river,  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Porlneuf,  about  a  hundred  miles  north  of  the  Utah  Lake  ;  and 
he  then  established  another  post,  principally  for  fishing  purposes,  on 
Wappatoo  Island,  near  the  confluence  of  the  Willamet  River  with 
the  Columbia,  a  hundred  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  latter. 
This  scheme,  however,  failed  entirely.  The  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany's agents  immediately  took  the  alarm,  and  founded  a  counter 
establishment,  called  Fort  Boise,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Boise  or 
7?tflrf's  Riier  into  the  Lewis,  some  distance  below  Fort  Hall,  where 
they  offered  goods  to  the  Indians  at  prices  much  lower  than  those 
which  the  Americans  could  aflbrd  to  take ;  and  Wyeth,  being  thus 
driven  out  of  the  market,  was  forced  to  compromise  with  his  op- 
ponents, by  selling  his  fort  to  them,  and  engaging  to  desist  from  the 

•  The  narrative  of  this  oxpcditioii,  wrilfon  from  tho  nnti's  of  (^a])tain  Boniiovillf, 
by  Washington  Irvinjr,  in  llif  vi'iii,  hiilf  siTious,  lull"  jocose,  of  Fray  Agapida's 
Chronicle,  contains  some  curiou-s,  tlioajrh  gonorally  ovrrchargod,  picturci  of  lilL* 
among  the  hunters,  trappers,  traders,  Indians,  and  grisly  bears,  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains; but  it  adds  very  little  to  our  knowledge  of  tho  geography  of  those  regions. 


..'|i 


■J 


ilt.i 


I 


5 


■( 


itu 


iji:, 


vl^^^ll'^24 


■i::lif 


■4'y  ■' 


!"• 


W     : 


1:1 


^i'  i 


Wr'^^ 


itt 


"  tU 


960 


AMERICAN    TRADERS    IN    CALirORNIA. 


[1834. 


fur  trade.  Meanwhile,  a  brig,  which  he  had  despatched  from 
Boston,  with  a  cargo  of  goods,  arrived  at  Wappatoo  Island,  where 
she,  after  some  further  arrangements  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Coin- 
pany,  took  in  a  cargo  of  salted  salmon,  for  the  United  States. 
She  reached  Boston  in  safety ;  but  the  results  of  her  voyage  were 
not  such  as  to  encourage  perseverance  in  the  enterprise,  which  was 
thereupon  abandoned.* 

The  American  traders,  being  excluded  by  these  and  other  means 
from  the  Columbia  countricti,  confined  themselves  almost  entirely  to 
the  regions  about  the  head-waters  of  the  Colorado  and  the  Utali 
l^ake,  where  they  formed  one  or  two  small  establishments ;  though 
they  sometimes  extended  their  rambles  westward  to  the  Sacramento, 
the  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  and  Monterey,  where  they  were  viewed 
with  dislike  and  mistrust  by  the  Mexican  authorities.  The  number 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States  thus  employed  in  the  country  west 
o|  the  Rocky  Mountains  seldom,  if  ever,  exceeded  two  hundred; 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  they  roved  through  the  wilds, 
i^Q  search  of  fi;irs,  which  they  carried,  in  the  summer,  to  certain 
places  of  rendezvous  on  the  Colorado,  or  on  the  Lewis,  and  there 
disposed  of  them  to  the  traders  from  Missouri ;  the  whole  business 
being  conducted  by  barter,  and  without  the  use  of  money,  thoii^fh 
each  article  bore  a  nominal  value,  expressed  in  dollars  and  cents. 
very  different  from  that  assigned  to  it  in  the  states  of  the  Union.f 

About  the  time  of  Wyeth's  expeditions  also  took  place  the  ear- 
liest emigrations  from  the  United  States  to  the  territories  of  the 
Columbia,  for  the  purpose  of  settlement,  and  without  any  special 
commercial  objects. 

The  fiifst  of  these  colonies  was  founded,  in  1834,  in  the  valley  of 

*  Captain  Wyeth's  expeditions,  though  unprofitable  to  himself,  have  been  rendered 
advantageous  to  the  world  at  large ;  for  his  short  memoir  on  the  regions  which  he 
visited,  printed  with  the  report  of  the  comniittee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  on 
the  Oregon  territory,  in  February,  18:V.t,  airi)rds  more  exact  and  useful  information,  as 
to  their  general  g''"graphy,  climate,  soil,  and  agricultural  and  commercial  capabilitios, 
than  any  other  work  yet  published.  Wyeth's  movements  are  also  related  incidentally 
in  the  account  of  Bonneville's  adventures,  and  in  the  interesting  Narrative  of  a  Jour- 
ney across  tlie  llocky  Mountains,  »&c.,  by  J.  K.  Townsend,  a  naturalist  of  Philadelphia, 
published  in  1839. 

t  Thus,  among  the  prices  current  at  the  rendezvous  on  Green  River,  in  the 
summer  of  1H'^S,  we  find  whisky  at  three  dollars  per  pint,  gunpowder  at  six  dollars 
per  pint,  tobacco  at  five  dollars  per  pound,  dogs  (for  food)  at  fifteen  dollars  each,  Ac. 
Twenty  dollars  were  frequently  expended  in  rum  and  sugar,  for  a  night's  carouse,  by 
two  or  three  traders,  afler  the  conclusion  of  a  bargain.  Under  such  circunislancps, 
it  may  be  supposed  that  the  price  of  beaver  and  inuskrat  skins  was  proportionally 
raised ;  and  tliat  a  package,  purchased  for  a  hundred  dollars  on  Green  River,  may  have 
been  afterwards  sold  with  profit  at  St.  Louis  for  twenty. 


♦ 


[1834. 

icHputclicd  from 
Loo  Island,  where 
idson's  Bay  Coin- 
e  United  States. 
her  voyage  were 
rprise,  which  was 

and  other  means 
ahnost  entirely  to 
do  and  the  Utah 
ishments;  though 
3  the  Sacramento, 
they  were  viewed 
les.     The  number 
I  the  country  west 
led  two  hundred: 
through  the  wilds, 
ummer,  to  certain 
J  Lewis,  and  there 
the  whole  business 
of  money,  thon;;h 
dollars  and  cents. 
s  of  the  Union.f 
:ook  place  the  ear- 
territories  of  the 
[ithout  any  special 

14,  in  the  valley  of 

^clf,  have  been  rendered 
the  regions  which  he 
of  Representatives  on 
Id  useful  information,  as 
Icommercial  capabilities, 
lalso  related  incidentally 
Inij  Narrative  of  a  Jour- 
Vuralist  of  Philadelphia, 

Green  River,  in  the 
Inpowder  at  six  dollars 
Itteen  dollars  each,  Ac. 
V  a  night's  carouse,  by 
der  such  circumstances, 
liins  was  proportionally 
I  Green  River,  may  have 


1834.] 


AMERICAN    ViSSIONARIES    IN   OHEGON. 


361 


the  Willamet  River,  eighty  miles  above  its  junction  with  the  Columbia, 
by  a  small  party  from  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States  of  the  Union, 
under  the  direction  of  Messrs.  Lee,  Shepherd,  and  other  Methodist 
missionaries,  who  cleared  land,  erected  houses,  and  opened  schools 
for  the  instruction  of  the  natives.  A  few  retired  servants  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  had  already  settled  in  t)ie  same  valley,  by 
permission  of  the  chief  factor,  and  were  there  principally  engaged 
in  herding  cattle.  In  the  following  year,  Mr.  Parker,  a  Presby- 
terian minister  from  Ithaca,  in  New  York,  proceeded,  by  way  of  the 
Platte  and  the  Southern  Pass,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  and 
thence  returned  to'  the  United  States;*  and,  upon  his  reports, 
Messrs.  Spalding,  Gray,  and  Whitman,  were  sent,  by  the  American 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  to  prosecute  the  objects  of  that  society 
in  the  Oregon  regions.  Other  missionaries  of  each  of  these  sects, 
with  their  families  and  friends,  have  since  successively  gone  from 
the  United  States,  and  formed  settlements  at  various  points,  in  all 
of  which  schools  for  the  education  of  the  natives  have  been  opened ; 
and  a  printing  press  has  been  erected  at  the  Walla- Walla  station, 
on  which  were  struck  off  the  first  sheets  ever  printed  on  the  Pacific 
side  of  America  north  of  Mexico. 

In  order  <'  to  obtain  some  specific  and  authentic  information  in 
regard  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Columbia,"  Mr.  W.  Slacum,  a  purser  in  the  navy  of  the  United 
States,  was,  in  1838,  commissioned  by  Mr.  Forsyth,  then  secretary 
of  state,  to  proceed  to  that  country,  and  make  the  necessary  obser- 
vations and  inquiries ;  in  fulfilment  of  which  commission,  Mr.  Sla- 
cum went  to  the  Columbia  by  sea,  and  spent  six  weeks,  during  the 
winter  of  1836-7,  in  visiting  the  various  factories  and  settlements 
on  the  great  river  below  its  falls  and  on  the  Willamet.f 

The  attention  of  the  American  government  had  been  again 
directed  to  the  north-west  coasts  of  America,  by  several  circum- 
stances, especially  by  the  recent  refusal  of  the  Russian  government 
to  allow  the  vessels  of  the  United  States  to  trade  on  the  unoccupied 
parts  of  that  coast  north  of  the  latitude  of  54  degrees  40  minutes, 
as  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter.     This  refusal  was  based  on 

*  Mr.  Parker's  Journal  of  his  tour  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  published  at 
Ithaca,  in  1838,  would  have  been  more  valuable,  had  the  worthy  and  intelligent 
author  confined  himself  to  accounts  of  what  he  himself  experienced,  and  not  wan- 
dered, as  he  has  done,  into  the  regions  of  history,  diplomacy,  and  cosmogony. 

1  Mr.  Slacum's  Report  may  be  found  among  the  documents  published  by  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  1837-8.  It  contains  no  information  of  value,  and 
abounds  in  errors,  many  of  them  on  material  points. 

46 


'#j|: 


1 


IF  I 


1|H 


1 


•  ■"> 


f 


L    '. 


IfV 


362 


PROCEEDINGS    OF   THE    RUSSIANS. 


[1838. 


m 


S^'. 


the  fact  that  the  period  of  ten  years,  fixed  by  the  fourtli  article  of 
the  convention  of  1824  between  the  two  nations,  during  which  the 
vessels  of  both  parties  might  frequent  the  bays,  creeks,  harbors,  niid 
other  interior  waters  on  the  north-west  coast,  had  expired:  and 
the  Russian  government  had  chosen  to  consider  that  article  as  the 
only  limitation  of  its  right  to  exclude  American  vessels  from  all 
parts  of  the  division  of  the  coast  on  which  the  United  States,  by 
the  convention,  engaged  to  form  no  establishments;  disregarding 
entirely  the  first  article  of  the  same  agreement,  by  which  all  unoc- 
cupied places  on  the  north-west  coast  were  declared  free  and  open 
to  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  both  nations.  The  government  of  the 
United  States  immediately  protested  against  this  exclusion;  and 
their  plenipotentiaries  at  St.  Petersburg  have  been  instructed  to 
demand  its  revocation.*     To  the  reasons  oflered  in  support  of 

*  See  Piosident  Van  Burcn'a  message  to  Congress  of  December  3d,  1838,  nnd  the 
accompanying  documents.  The  letters  of  Messrs.  Wilkins  and  Dallas,  succciisively 
plenipotentiaries  of  the  United  States  at  St.  Petersburg,  relating  the  particulars  ct" 
their  negotiations  wiih  the  Russian  minister,  will  be  found  very  interesting,  from  tlio 
luminous  views  of  national  rights  presented  in  them.  The  instructions  of  Mr,  For. 
syth,  the  American  secretary  of  state,  to  Mr.  Dallas,  dated  November  3d,  1837,  are 
also  especially  worthy  of  attention.  Aller  repeating  the  cardinal  rule  as  to  the  con- 
struction of  instruments,  —  that  they  should  be  so  construed,  if  possible,  as  that  erinj 
part  may  stand,  —  he  proceeds  to  show  that  the  fourth  article  of  the  convention  uf 
April,  1824,  was  to  bo  understood  as  giving  "permission  to  enter  interior  bays,  At,, 
at  the  mouth  of  which  there  might  be  establishments,  or  the  shores  of  which  iiiiirlit 
be  in  part,  but  not  wholly,  occupied  by  such  establishments ;  thus  providing  for  a 
case  which  would  otherwise  admit  of  doubt,  as  it  would  be  questionable  whether  the 
bays,  &.C.,  described  in  it,  belonged  to  the  Jirst  or  the  second  article.  In  no  sense," 
continues  Mr.  Forsyth,  "  can  it  be  understood  as  implying  an  acknowledgment,  nn 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  of  the  right  of  Russia  to  the  possession  of  the  coast 
above  the  latitude  of  54  degrees  40  minutes  north ;  but  it  should  be  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  other  articles,  which  have,  in  fact,  no  reference  whatever  to  the 
question  of  the  right  of  possession  of  the  unoccupied  parts  of  the  coast.  In  a  spirit 
of  compromise,  and  to  prevent  future  collisions  or  difficulties,  it  was  agreed  that 
no  new  establishments  should  be  formed  by  the  respective  parties  north  or  south  of 
a  certain  parallel  of  latitude,  after  the  conclusion  of  tlie  agreement;  but  the  question 
of  the  right  of  possession  beyond  the  existing  establishments,  as  it  subsisted  previous 
to,  or  at  the  time  of,  the  conclusion  of  the  convention,  was  left  untouched.  The 
United  States,  in  agreeing  not  to  form  new  establishments  north  of  the  latitude  of 
54  degrees  and  40  minutes,  made  no  acknowledgment  of  the  right  of  Russia  to  the 
possession  of  the  territory  above  that  line.  If  such  admission  had  been  made,  Russia, 
by  the  same  construction  of  the  article  referred  to,  must  have  acknowledged  the 
right  of  the  United  States  to  the  territory  south  of  the  line.  But  that  Russia  did  not 
80  understand  the  article,  is  conclusively  proved  by  her  having  entered  into  a  similar 
agreement  in  a  subsequent  treaty  (1825)  with  Great  Britain,  and  having,  in  fact, 
acknowledged  in  that  instrument  the  right  of  possession  of  the  same  territory  by 
Great  Britain.  The  United  States  can  only  be  considered  as  -  eknowledging  the 
right  of  Russia  to  acquire,  by  actual  occupation,  a  just  claim  to  unoccupied  lands 
above  the  latitude  of  54  degrees  40  minutes  north ;  and  even  this  is  a  mere  matter 


ics,  it  was  agreed  that 


183d.] 


pj:ocbeding3  of  the  Russians. 


363 


this  demand,  the  Iluasiaii  iiiiiiistcr  of  foreign  Tairs,  Count  Nessel- 
rode,  did  not  attempt  to  otter  any  reply,  contenting  himself  simply 
with  declaring  that  his  sovereign  was  not  inclined  to  renew  the 
fourth  article,  as  it  aflbrded  the  Americans  the  opportunity  of  fur- 
nishing the  natives  on  the  coasts  with  spirituous  liquors  and  fire-arms ; 
though  no  case  was  adduced  in  support  of  that  assertion.  Thus 
the  matter  rests  ;  the  American  traders  being  excluded  from  visiting 
any  of  the  coasts  of  the  Pacific  north  of  the  parallel  of  54  degrees 
40  minutes,  on  the  ground  that  those  coasts  are  acknowledged  by 
the  United  States  to  belong  to  Russia,  whilst  the  latter  power,  by 
its  treaty  with  Great  Britain  in  18'25,  directly  denies  any  rights, 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  to  the  coasts  south  of  that  parallel. 
The  Russian  government  also  refused  the  same  privilege  to  British 
vessels  after  1835,  and  moreover  opposed  by  force  the  exercise  of 
another  privilege  claimed  by  the  British  under  the  treaty  of  1825, 
namely,  that  of  navigating  the  rivers  flowing  from  the  interior  of 
the  continent  to  the  Pacific  across  the  line  of  boundary  therein 
established.  In  1834,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  fitted  out  an 
expedition  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  trading  post  on  the  large 
river  Stikine,  which  enters  the  channel  nutned  by  Vancouver  Prince 
Frederick's  Sound,  between  the  main  land  and  one  of  the  islands 
of  the  north-west  archipelago  claimed  by  Russia,  in  the  latitude  of 
56  degrees  50  minutes.  Baron  Wrangel,  the  Russian  governor- 
general,  having,  however,  been  informed  of  the  project,  erected  a 
block-house  and  stationed  a  sloop  of  war  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Stikine ;  and,  on  the  appearance  of  the  vessel  bringing  the  men 
and  materials  for  the  contemplated  establishment,  the  British  were 
warned  not  to  attempt  to  pass  into  the  river,  and  were  forced  to 
return  to  the  south.  All  appeals  to  the  treaty  were  ineffectual,  and 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was  obliged  to  desist  from  the  prose- 
cution of  the  plan,  after  having,  as  asserted  on  its  part,  spent  more 
than  twenty  thousand  pounds  in  fitting  out  the  expedition. 

of  inference,  as  the  convention  of  1824  contains  nothing  more  than  a  negation  of  the 
right  of  the  United  States  to  occupy  new  points  within  that  limit.  Admitting  that 
this  inference  was  in  contemplation  of  the  parties  to  the  convention,  it  cannot  follow 
that  the  United  States  ever  intended  to  abandon  the  just  right,  acknowledged  by  the 
first  article  to  belong  to  them,  under  the  law  of  nations  ;  that  is,  to  frequent  any  part  of 
the  unoccupied  coast  of  North  America,  for  the  purpose  of  fishing  or  trading  with  the 
natives.  All  that  the  convention  admits  is,  an  inference  of  the  right  of  Russia  to 
acquire  possession  by  settlement  north  of  54  degrees  and  40  minutes  north ;  and, 
until  that  possession  is  taken,  tlie  first  article  of  the  convention  acknowledges  the 
right  of  the  United  States  to  fish  and  trade,  as  prior  to  its  negotiation." 


i 


rK  I  ■ ' 


hi 


'r^H 


I'' 


!  ''f* 


'     ;  '  ■*l,i 


'W' 


364 


PR0CCEDIN09    OV    TtlU    RUSSIANS. 


[1839. 


/'■ 


The  British  government  immediately  demanded  satisfaction  from 
that  of  Russia  for  this  infraction  of  the  treaty ;  and,  after  some  time 
■pent  in  negotiation  between  the  two  {)owcr8,  as  well  as  between  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  the  Russian  American  Company,  it 
was  agreed,  in  1839,  that  the  British  trading  association  should 
enjoy,  for  ten  years,  from  the  1st  of  June,  1840,  the  exclusive 
use  of  the  continent  ossigned  to  Russia  by  the  treaty  of  18>25, 
extending  from  the  parallel  of  54  degrees  40  minutes  northward  to 
Cape  Spenser,  near  the  58th  degree,  in  consideration  of  the  annual 
payment  of  two  thousand  seal  skins  to  the  Russian  Company.* 
The  difficulty  was  thus  ended,  to  the  advantage  of  both  parties ; 
the  British  having  access  to  a  long  line  of  coast,  without  which  the 
adjoining  interior  territories  would  have  been  useless ;  while  the 
Russians  receive,  as  rent,  a  much  greater  amount  in  value  than  they 
could  possibly  have  drawn  from  that  coast  by  any  other  means. 

The  charter  of  the  Russian  American  Company  was  renewed  for 
twenty  years,  in  1839;  at  which  time  tlie  company  possessed 
thirty-six  establishments  in  its  territories  in  America,  and  twelve 
vessels,  some  of  them  large,  employed  in  the  transportation  of  furs 
and  merchandise.  The  revenue  from  these  establishments  is 
undoubtedly  large,  as  the  company  is  constantly  extending  its 
operations,  and  its  stock  maintains  a  high  value.  There  is,  more- 
over, every  reason  to  believe  that  the  regulations  of  this  body  are 
as  humane,  and  arc  enforced  with  as  much  strictness,  as  the 
peculiar  circumstances  under  which  its  servants  are  placed  will 
admit;  and  that,  if  the  amount  of  labor  required  from  those 
servants  is  not  diminished,  their  comforts  are  much  increased. 
Great  care  appears  to  be  bestowed  on  the  moral  and  religious  ed- 
ucation of  the  natives,  particularly  of  those  of  the  Aleutian  Islands 
and  Kodiak,  who  are  more  intelligent  than  the  people  of  the 
coasts  farther  north  or  east.  Moreover,  a  race  of  half  breeds, 
there  called  Creoles,  children  of  native  women  by  Russian  fathers, 
is  growing  up,  to  whose  instruction  in  the  language,  religion,  and 
customs,  of  Russia,  the  company  particularly  directs  its  efforts.* 

In  California,  few  events  worthy  of  note  occurred  during  the 
whole  period  of  fifty  years,  from  the  first  establishment  of  Spanish 


*  Wrangel'a  Statistical  and  Ethnographical  Account  of  the  Russian  Possessions  in 
America,  above  mentioned,  at  page  329.  The  accounts  of  Wrangel  on  these  points 
are  particular,  and  they  are  confirmed  by  those  of  other  persons  who  have  recently 
visited  the  Russian  aettlementi. 


1893.] 


CALirORNIA    BUUJRCT   TO    MEXICO. 


363 


coloniea  and  garrisons  on  tho  west  coasts  of  that  country,  to  the 
termination  of  tlio  revolutionary  struggle  between  Spain  and  Mex- 
ico. Before  tho  disturbances  in  Mexico  began,  the  missions  were, 
to  a  certain  extent,  fostered  by  the  Spanish  government ;  and  sup- 
plies of  money  and  goods  were  sent  to  them,  with  regularity,  from 
Acapulco  and  San  Bias :  but,  after  the  revolution  broke  out,  these 
remittances  were  reduced,  and  all  the  establishments,  civil,  military, 
and  religious,  fell  into  decay.  The  missionaries  lost  much  of  their 
influence  over  the  Indians  ;  and  the  defences  of  the  country  became 
so  ineflfective,  that  Monterey,  in  despite  of  its  forts  and  castle,  was, 
in  1819,*taken  and  sacked  by  a  Buenos  Ayrean  privateer,  under 
the  command  of  a  Frenchman. 

On  the  termination  of  the  revolutionary  struggle,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  independence  in  Mexico,  the  soldiers  and  priests  in 
California,  for  the  most  part,  submitted,  though  with  reluctance,  to 
the  authority  of  the  new  republic ;  and  the  remainder  of  the  pop- 
ulation followed  their  example,  probably  without  inquiring  into 
the  circumstances.  The  country  was  then  divided  politically  into 
two  territories,  of  which  the  peninsula  formed  one,  called  Lower 
California ;  the  other,  called  Upper  California,  embracing  the 
whole  of  the  continental  portion.  By  the  constitution  of  1824, 
each  of  these  territories  became  entitled  to  send  one  member  to 
the  National  Congress ;  and,  by  subsequent  decrees  of  the  general 
government,  all  the  adult  Indians,  who  could  be  considered  as 
civilized  or  capable  of  reasoning,  (gentc  de  razon,)  were  freed  from 
submission  to  their  former  pastors,  had  lands  assigned  to  them,  and 
were  declared  citizens  of  the  republic.  These  seeming  bootiis  were, 
however,  accompanied  by  the  withdrawal  of  nearly  all  the  allow- 
ances previously  made  for  the  support  of  the  establishments,  and  by 
the  imposition  of  taxes  and  duties  on  all  imports,  including  those 
from  Mexico.  The  authority  of  the  missionaries  thus  dwindled 
away ;  and  those  who  had  been  long  in  the  country,  either  returned 
to  Mexico  or  Spain,  or  escaped  to  other  lands.  The  cultivation  of 
the  mission  farms  was  abandoned  ;  the  Indians,  freed  from  restraint, 
relapsed  into  barbarism,  or  sunk  into  the  lowest  state  of  indolence 
and  vice ;  and  the  missions  were  finally  placed  by  the  government 
in  the  hands  of  administrators,  under  whom  they  appear  to  be  fast 
falling  to  ruin. 

Whilst  the  number  of  civilized  Indians  in  California  was  by  these 
measures  diminished,  the  white  population  was  at  the  same  time 
somewhat  increased.     Immediately  after,  and  indeed  before,  the 


i' 


\  I 


■iL'. 


,)  II ' 


II'-' 


(  h 


.1! 


36S 


CALIFORNIA    SUBJECT    TO    MEXICO. 


[1828. 


»•■'%■■■?'•  -A-      i*"     ■'■■■    ' 


'nM' 


overthrow  of  the  Spanish  authority  in  that  country,  its  ports  became 
the  resort  of  foreigners,  especially  of  the  whalers  and  traders  of 
the  United  States,  who  offered  coarse  manufactured  articles  and 
groceries  in  exchange  for  provisions,  and  for  the  hides  and  tallow 
of  the  wild  cattle  abounding  in  the  country.  This  trade  was  at 
first  carried  on  in  the  same  irregular  manner  as  the  fur  trade  with 
the  Indians  on  the  coasts  farther  north ;  as  it  increased,  however, 
it  became  more  systematized,  and  mercantile  houses  were  estab- 
lished in  the  principal  ports.  The  majority  of  the  merchants  were 
foreigners,  English,  French,  or  Americans :  in  their  train  came  shop 
and  tavern-keepers,  and  artisans,  from  various  countries^  and  to 
these  were  added  deserting  seamen  and  stragglers  from  the  Missouri 
and  the  Columbia. 

This  state  of  things  was  by  no  means  satisfactory  to  the  Mexican 
government ;  and  orders  were  given  to  the  commandant-general  of 
Upper  California  to  enforce  the  laws  prohibiting  foreigners  from 
entering  or  residing  in  the  Mexican  territories  without  special  per- 
mission from  the  authorities.  Agreeably  to  these  orders,  a  number 
of  American  citizens  were,  in  1828,  seized  at  San  Diego,  and  kept 
in  confinement  until  1830,  when  an  insurrection  broke  out,  headed 
by  a  General  Solis,  which  they  were  instrumental  in  subduing;  and, 
in  consideration  of  their  services,  they  were  allowed  to  quit  the 
country.  The  trading  expeditions  of  Ashley  and  Smith,  of  which 
accounts  have  been  already  presented,  at  the  same  time  gave  great 
uneasiness  to  the  Mexican  government,  and  were  made  the  subjects 
of  formal  complaints  to  that  of  the  United  States. 

These  circumstances,  with  others  of  the  same  nature  then  occur- 
ring in  Texas,  served  to  delay  the  conclusion  of  treaties  of  limits, 
and  of  amity,  commerce,  and  navigation,  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico ;  which  were,  however,  at  length  signed  and  ratified, 
so  as  to  become  effective  in  1832.  By  the  treaty  of  limits,  the  line 
of  boundary  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Pacific,  which  was 
settled  between  the  United  States  and  Spain  in  1819,  was  adopted 
as  separating  the  territories  of  the  United  States  on  the  north  from 
those  of  Mexico  on  the  south ;  and  the  latter  power  accordingly 
claims  as  its  own  the  whole  territory  west  of  the  great  dividing 
chain  of  mountains,  as  far  north  as  the  42d  parallel  of  latitude. 

The  Mexican  government  likewise  endeavored  to  prevent  the 
evils  anticipated  from  the  presence  of  so  many  foreigners  in  Cali- 
fornia, by  founding  new  colonies  of  its  own  citizens  in  that  country. 
Criminals  were  to  be  transported  thither ;  but  although  many  were 


[1828. 

f,  its  ports  became 
rs  and  traders  of 
tured  articles  and 

hides  and  tallow 
rhis  trade  was  at 
the  fur  trade  with 
icreased,  however, 
Duses  were  estab- 
le  merchants  were 
ir  train  came  shop 
countries",   and  to 

from  the  Missouri 

•ry  to  the  Mexican 
landant-general  of 
g  foreigners  from 
ithout  special  per- 
}  orders,  a  number 
n  Diego,  and  kept 
broke  out,  headed 
in  subduing;  and, 
lowed  to  quit  the 
Smith,  of  which 
le  time  gave  great 
made  the  subjects 

lature  then  occur- 
treaties  of  limits, 
the  United  States 

ijned  and  ratified, 
of  limits,  the  line 

'acific,  which  was 
819,  was  adopted 
on  the  north  from 
>ower  accordingly 
he  great  dividing 
el  of  latitude, 
id  to  prevent  the 
breigners  in  Cali- 
is  in  that  country, 
hough  many  were 


1837.] 


REVOLUTION    IN    CALIFORNIA. 


367 


thus  sentenced,  few,  if  any,  ever  reached  the  place  of  their  desti- 
nation. A  number  of  persons,  of  various  trades  and  professions, 
were  also  sent  out  from  Mexico  in  1834,  to  be  located  on  the  lands 
of  the  missions  in  California ;  but,  ere  they  reached  those  places, 
the  administration  by  which  the  scheme  was  devised,  had  been 
overthrown,  and  the  new  authorities,  entertaining  different  views, 
ordered  the  settlers  to  be  driven  hack  to  their  native  land. 

These  new  authorities  —  that  is  to  say,  General  Santa  Anna  and 
his  pariisans  —  determined  to  remodel  the  constitution,  under  which 
Mexico  had  been  governed,  as  a  federal  republic,  since  1824.  ^What 
other  form  was  to  have  been  introduced  in  its  stead,  is  not  known ; 
for,  in  the  spring  of  1836,  at  the  moment  when  the  change  was 
about  to  be  made,  Santa  Anna  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  by 
the  Texans  at  San  Jacinto.     Those  who  succeeded  to  the  helm 
being,  however,  no  less  averse  to  the  federal  system,  it  was  abolished 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  same  year,  and  a  constitution  was  adopted, 
by  which  the  powers  of  government  were  placed  almost  entirely  in 
the  hands  of  the  general  congress  and  executive,  all  state  rights 
being  destroyed.     This  central  system  was  opposed  in  many  parts 
of  the  republic,  and  nowhere  more  strenuously  than  in  California, 
where  the  people  rose  in  a  body,  expelled  the  Mexican  officers,  and 
declared  that  their  country  should  remain  independent  until   the 
federal  constitution  were  restored.     The  general  government,  on 
receiving  the  news  of  these  proceedings,  issued  strong  proclamations 
against  the  insurgents,  and  ordered  an  expedition  to  be  prepared 
for  the   purpose    of  reestablishing  its   authority  in   the   revolted 
territory ;    but   General   Urrea,   to  whom   the  execution   of  this 
order  was  committed,  soon   after  declared  in  favor  of  the   fed- 
eralisti5,  and  the  Californians  were  allowed  to  govern  themselves  as 
they  chose  for  some  months,  at  the  end  of  which,  in  July,  1837, 
their  patriotic  enthusiasm  subsided,  and  they  voluntarily  swore  alle- 
giance to  the  new  constitution. 

Since  that  time,  the  quiet  course  of  things  in  California  has,  so 
far  as  known,  been  disturbed  by  only  one  occurrence  worthy  of 
being  mentioned  ;  namely,  the  capture  and  temporary  occupation  of 
Monterey  by  the  naval  forces  of  the  United  States,  under  Commo- 
dore T.  A.  C.  Jones,  of  which  the  following  brief  account  will  suffice. 
This  officer,  while  cruising  on  the  South  American  coast  of  the  Pa- 
cific, received  information  which  led  him  to  believe  that  Mexico  had, 
agreeably  to  a  menace  shortly  before  uttered  by  her  government^ 
declared  war  against  the  United  States;   and,  being  determined 


a\'[  i 


■  )■'  ■ 


i 


i;: 


M 


i  \ 


■'  I 

"i 


t   f  i  ■ 


uhJ  ' 


If/ 


^ 


il  ? 


ti 


*■•■'■«;':■  1,1*5  ?•:■■  'S 


368 


CAPTUnE  OF  MONTEREY  BY  THE  AMERICANS. 


[1842. 


to  strike  a  blow  at  the  supposed  enemy,  he  sailed,  with  his  frigate, 
the  United  States,  and  the  sloop  of  war  Cyane,  to  Monterey,  where 
he  arrived  on  the  19th  of  October,  1842.  Having  disposed  his 
vessels  in  front  of  the  little  town,  he  sent  an  officer  ashore,  to 
demand  the  surrender  "  of  the  castle,  posts,  and  military  places, 
with  all  troops,  arms,  and  munitions  of  war  of  every  class,"  in 
default  of  which,  the  sacrifice  of  human  life  and  the  horrors  of 
war  would  be  the  immediate  consequence.  The  commandant 
of  the  place,  astounded  by  such  a  demand,  made  in  a  time  of 
profound  peace,  summoned  his  officers  to  a  council,  in  which  it 
was  decided  that  no  defence  could  be  made :  he  therefore  sub- 
mitted without  delay,  and  the  flag  of  the  United  States  replaced  that 
of  Mexico  over  all  the  public  edifices ;  the  fortifications  were  garri- 
soned by  American  soldiers,  and  the  commodore  issued  a  proclama- 
tion to  the  Californians,  inviting  them  to  submit  to  the  government 
of  the  federal  republic,  which  would  protect  and  insure  to  them  the 
undisturbed  exercise  of  their  religion,  and  all  other  privileges  of 
freemen.  Scarcely,  however,  was  this  proclamation  sent  forth,  ere 
the  commodore  received  advices  which  convinced  him  that  he  had 
been  in  error,  and  that  the  peace  between  his  country  and  Mexico 
remained  unbroken ;  he  had,  therefore,  only  to  restore  the  place  to 
its  former  possessors,  and  to  retire  with  all  his  forces  to  his  ships, 
which  was  done  ori  the  21st  of  the  month,  twenty-four  hours  after 
the  surrender.  Thus  ended  an  aflair,  the  effects  of  which  have  been 
unfortunately  to  increase  the  irritation  already  existing  in  Mexico 
against  the  United  States,  and  to  render  less  easy  the  adjustment  of 
the  differences  between  the  two  nations.  The  armed  force  in  Cali- 
fornia has  since  been  considerably  augmented  ;  but  it  is  evident  that 
all  the  efforts  of  Mexico  would  be  unavailing  to  retain  those  distant 
possessions,  in  the  event  of  a  war  with  a  powerful  maritime  state. 

In  the  Sandwich  Islands,  a  complete  change  has  taken  place 
since  the  death  of  Tamahamaha.  His  son  and  successor,  Riho 
Riho,  died,  in  1824,  in  London,  whither  he  had  gone,  with  his 
queen,  to  visit  his  brother  sovereign  of  Great  Britain ;  and  he  was 
himself  succeeded  by  Kauikeaouli,  another  reputed  son  of  the  great 
Tamahamaha,  who  now  fills  the  throne,  under  the  name  of  Kame- 
hamaha  HI.  These  changes  were  all  advantageous  to  the  mission- 
aries from  the  United  States,  many  of  whom  were  domiciliated  in 
the  islands ;  particularly  after  the  conversion  of  Krymakoo,  or  Billy 
Pitt,  the  old  prime  minister,  and  of  Kaahumanu,  the  widow  of  the 
great  Tamahamaha,  who,  after  passing  half  a  century  in  the  con' 


1837.] 


LANGUAGE    OF    THE    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


369 


slant  practice  of  the  most  beastly  sensuality,  embraced  Christianity 
in  her  old  age,  and  became  an  efficient  protector  of  its  professors. 
Kaahumanu  acted  as  regent  during  the  minority  of  the  king,  which 
did  not  expire  until  1834  ;  this  young  man,  immediately  on  taking 
the  reins  of  government  into  his  own  hands,  determined  to  enjoy 
life  like  other  princes  ;  "  he  avoided  the  society  of  the  more  influential 
chiefs,  and  associated  with  young  and  unprincipled  men.  Break- 
ing over  the  laws  to  which  he  had  formerly  given  his  assent,  he 
bought  ardent  spirits,  and  drank  with  his  companions,  though  seldom 
to  intoxication.  He  enticed  others  into  the  same  practices,  and  is 
said  even  to  have  inflicted  punishment  on  those  who  would  not 
comply.  He  revived  the  hualaha,  or  national  dance,  and  it  was 
understood  that  he  intended  to  revive  other  practices,  which  had 
been  common  in  the  days  of  heathenism."  *  The  example  of  the 
sovereign,  was  imitated  by  his  subjects  ;  grog-shops  were  opened, 
distilleries  were  set  up,  and  other  immoralities  reappeared.  But  the 
church  had  now  been  too  strongly  united  to  the  state  for  these  things 
to  continue :  the  chiefs  were  nearly  all,  nominally  at  least,  Christians  ; 
and  the  king  was,  in  the  end,  obliged  to  submit.  He  afterwards 
proved  quite  tractable,  and  though  he  sometimes  complains,  he  has 
never  again  attempted  to  assert  his  freedom  from  religious  restraint. 
The  missionaries,  persevering  in  the  task  which  they  had  under- 
taken, employed  every  means  to  gain  ascendency  over  the  young, 
and  to  train  them  in  the  ways  of  religion  and  strict  morality.  With 
this  object,  they  made  themselves  well  acquainted  with  the  language 
of  the  islands  ;  and,  finding  that  all  its  sounds  might  be  expressed 
by  fourteen  letters  of  the  Roman  alphabet,!  they  thus  reduced  its 

*  History  of  tlio  American  Board  of  Conimissionnrs  for  Foreign  Missions,  p.  241. 

t  Tlie  letters  are,  a,  e,  i,  o,  ii,  vowels,  each  havinij,  in  all  cases,  one  and  tiie  same 
sound,  namely,  that  given  to  it  in  the  Italian  langnage ;  and  b,  h,  k,  I,  m,  n,  p,  t, 
and  \v,  consonants,  having  each  the  simple  sound  assigned  to  it  in  English.  Tho 
same  language  was  found,  by  the  missionaries,  in  use  in  all  parts  of  the  group  ;  but 
it  was  pronounced  dilferently  in  diirerent  islands,  and  nearly  all  the  names  of  peojjle 
and  places,  which  had  been  made  known  by  Cook,  Vancouver,  and  other  navigators, 
were  written  according  to  the  sounds  of  an  impure  <lialect.  The  orthography  of  all 
these  names  was,  in  consequence,  changed  to  suit  the  new  system,  not  only  in  the 
books,  published  for  the  use  of  the  islanders  in  their  own  language,  but  likewise  in 
all  the  publications  in  English,  issuing  from  the  missionary  press.  However  advan- 
tageous this  may  be  for  the  natives,  and  for  those  who  study  their  language,  its 
good  effects,  on  the  whole,  may  be  doubted  ;  it  supposes  every  person  to  be  ac- 
quainted with  the  new  system,  without  a  knowledge  of  which,  no  one  can  compare 
or  connect  tho  information  afforded  by  Cook  and  Vancouver,  with  that  obtained 
from  the  modern  works.    As  an  exemplification  of  the  serious  embarrassment  thus 

47 


I 


'4 


If 


i  :'  I 


1:: 


1     .l        I 


>r\.i-i 


n 


]• 


,1 


If" 


1 


'I 


mimi 


yi<i':>!^? 


11 


hi 


f 


It'I 


a;  \ 


iif 


370 


OPPOSITION   TO    THE    MISSIONARIES. 


[1838. 


words  to  writing,  and  translated  into  it  the  Bible  and  several  other 
works,  which  were  all  successively  printed,  at  Honolulu,  in  Woahoo, 
the  seat  of  the  government.  They,  at  the  same  time,  exerted  them- 
selves to  amend  the  customs  of  the  people,  and  to  reform  the  vices 
of  their  government ;  gradually  procuring  the  adoption  of  written 
laws,  and,  finally,  in  1840,  of  a  written  constitution,  all  which 
measures  evinced  much  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  the  world,  as 
well  as  justice  and  morality,  on  the  part  of  the  framers. 

In  these  endeavors  to  raise  a  barbarous  people  to  civilization,  and 
to  place  their  country  among  Christian  states,  the  American  mission- 
aries were  constantly  opposed  and  thwarted  by  their  own  fellow- 
citizens  and  the  subjects  of  other  nations,  who  resorted  to  the  islands 
for  the  purposes  of  trade,  or  of  refreshment,  after  long  and  danger- 
ous voyages.  The  precepts  of  a  religion  enjoining  self-denial  in  all 
things  could  not  find  favor  among  such  persons,  to  whom  its  apos- 
tles became  objects  of  hatred,  as  the  destroyers  of  all  their  pleasures. 
Bickerings  took  place  between  the  two  parties :  the  missionaries 
were  assaulted  with  sticks  and  stones,  and  knives,  all  which  they 
fearlessly  confronted,  rather  than  yield  a  foot  of  the  ground  already 
occupied  ;  and  the  poor  young  king  was  alternately  subjected  to  com- 
plaints from  sea-captains  and  consuls  on  the  one  side,  and  to  remon- 
strances from  his  spiritual  advisers  on  the  other.  The  missionaries 
nevertheless  prevailed :  severe  laws  were  enacted  against  intoxication 
and  other  debauchery ;  the  drinking-shops  and  distilleries,  though 
one  belonged  to  the  king,  and  another  to  his  prime  minister,  weie 
successively  closed  ;  and,  finally,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1838,  a  law 
was  passed,  forbidding  the  introduction  of  spirituous  liquors  into  the 
islands. 

occasioned,  it  may  be  asked,  what  would  be  said  of  an  English  History  of  Ger- 
many, in  which  Vienna  should  be  written  Wien,  Cologne  Coelln,  Bolioniia  Boelmen, 
Moravia  Maehrcn,  according  to  their  true  German  orthography  ?  Yet  this  M'oiild  be 
fully  as  reasonable,  and  not  more  embarrassing,  than  the  changes  of  Owyhee  into 
Hawaii,  of  Atooi  into  Kauai,  of  Karakakooa  into  Keilakakua,  of  Tamoreo  into 
Kaumalii,  and  even  of  great  Tamahamaha  into  Kamehameha,  which  are  made 
in  all  the  reports,  histories,  newspapers,  &c.,  of  the  American  missionaries  ami 
their  friends. 

The  writer  of  these  observations  makes  them  in  no  captious  or  unkind  spirit :  lu' 
has  himself,  long  since,  mastered  the  difficulties  of  which  he  complains,  though  not 
without  considerable  labor,  much  more  than  the  generality  of  persons  will  give  to 
the  subject :  and  he  knows,  from  daily  experience,  that  very  few,  even  among  the 
best  informed  and  most  intelligent  men  in  the  United  States,  have  any  idea,  that 
Hawaii  is  identical  with  Owyhee,  and  that  Tamahamaha  and  Kamehameha  arc  not 
two  distinct  personages. 


1839.] 


CATHOLICS    KXPELLED    FROM    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 


371 


But  this  course  of  things  was  not  destined  to  run  on  smoothly. 
In  1831,  two  CathoHc  priests,  Messrs.  Bachelot,  a  Frenchman,  and 
Short,  an  Ii^ishman,  who  had  resided  some  time  in  the  islands,  en- 
gaged in  propagating  their  doctrines  among  the  natives,  were  forci- 
bly expelled  by  the  pious  regent,  Kaahumanu,  on  the  ground,  as  it 
has  been  said,  that  theij  worshipped  the  bones  of  dead  men,  which 
was  strictly  prohibited  by  law.  A  chapel  and  a  school  were,  how- 
ever, soon  after  opened  at  Honolulu,  by  another  Catholic  priest, 
named  Walsh ;  and  in  1838,  Kaahumanu  being  dead,  Messrs. 
Bachelot  and  Short  ventured  to  return  to  the  islands,  from  Califor- 
nia, where  they  had  i)assed  the  greater  part  of  their  time,  since  their 
expulsion.  They  were,  however,  again  ordered  by  the  government 
to  take  their  departure  ;  and,  on  their  refusal,  they  were  forcibly  put 
on  board  of  the  vessel  which  brought  them,  and  thus  sent  away. 
Against  this  act  of  violence  protests  were  made  by  the  consuls  of 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  on  the  part  of  the  owners  of  the 
vessel,  and  by  the  commanders  of  a  British  and  a  French  ship  of 
war,  which  arrived  at  the  lime  in  the  islands  ;  but  the  king  carried 
his  determination  into  execution.  That  the  Protestant  missionaries 
were  the  instigators  of  this  proceeding,  has  been  asserted,  though  it 
is  denied  by  their  friends  ;  that  they  might,  if  they  chosej'have  pre- 
vented the  act,  there  can,  however,  be  as  little  doubt,  as  that  they 
should  have  done  so,  if  it  were  in  their  power.* 

For  this  act,  which,  besides  being  entirely  at  variance  with  the 
constant  principle  of  protestantism,  and  with  the  spirit  of  toleration 
now  so  happily  pervading  the  world,  indicated  extreme  ignorance, 
and  culpable  disregard  of  consequences,  on  the  part  of  those  who 
directed  it,  a  severe  retribution  was  soon  after  exacted.  On  the 
9th  of  July,  1839,  the  French  frigate  Artemise  arrived  at  Hono- 
lulu, and  her  captain,  Laplace,  immediately  demanded  reparation 
for  the  insult  offered  to  his  country  and  its  national  religion  ; 
with  which  object,  he  required  —  that  the  Roman  Catholic  wor- 
ship should  be  declared  free  throughout  the  islands,  and  its  pro- 
fessors should  enjoy  all  the  privileges  heretofore  granted  to  Pro- 
testants ;  —  that  the  government  should  give  a  piece  of  ground 
for  the  erection  of  a  Catholic  church  :  —  that  all  Catholics  im- 


IM! 


!> 


I  .(■ 


m 

i   f  '    : 


it 


*  History  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  p.  221.  — 
"The  American  missionaries,  as  was  their  duty,  hiborod  to  guard  their  hearers 
against  the  delusions  of  Romanism,  but  gave  no  advice  concerning  the  removal  of 
the  priests." 


372 


THE    FRENCH    OBTAIN    REPARATION. 


[1842. 


If.:' Mr  ' 


f 


prisoned  on  account  of  their  religion  should  be  liberated  ;  and 
finally  —  that,  as  a  security  for  the  performance  of  these  engage- 
ments, twenty  thousand  dollars  should  be  placed,  and  should  remain, 
in  his  hands.  With  these  demands  the  king  immediately  com- 
plied ;  and  had  the  French  commander  contented  himself  with  what 
he  had  thus  effected,  his  conduct  would  have  been  blameless  in 
the  eyes  of  all  unprejudiced  men :  but  he  also  required  and  ob- 
tained, that  the  brandy  and  wines  of  his  country,  the  introduc- 
tion of  which,  as  of  all  other  spirituous  liquors,  was  most  properly 
prohibited  by  law,  should  be  admitted  into  the  islands  on  paying 
a  duty  of  not  more  than  five  per  cent,  on  their  value ;  an  act,  con- 
sidering the  relative  degrees  of  civilization  of  the  two  parties,  far 
more  reprehensible  than  that  for  which  he  had  just  before  exacted 
atonement.  Captain  Laplace  also  thought  proper  to  declare,  that  in 
case  he  should  make  an  attack  on  Honolulu,  the  American  mission- 
aries should  not  enjoy  the  protection  promised  by  him,  in  a  circiilar, 
to  the  people  of  civilized  nations  generally  —  a  threat,  which,  it  is 
needless  to  show,  would,  if  carried  into  execution,  have  occasioned 
a  most  serious  breach  of  good  understanding  between  France  and 
the  United  States. 

Difficulties  about  the  same  time  arose  between  the  government 
of  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  the  British  consul ;  in  consequence  of 
which,  the  king  at  length  determined  to  despatch  an  agent  to  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain,  and  France,  in  order  to  obtain,  if  pos- 
sible, the  recognition  of  the  indci)endence  of  his  dominions  by  those 
nations,  and  to  make  some  definite  arrangement  for  the  prevention 
of  difliculties  in  future.  With  these  objects,  Timoteo  Haalileo.  a 
young  native  who  had  been  educated  in  the  schools  of  the  mission- 
aries, and  had  filled  several  important  offices,  was  selected  as  the 
agent ;  and  he  was  to  be  accompanied  by  Mr.  W.  Richards,  one  of 
the  American  missionaries,  who  had  long  resided  in  the  islands,  and 
had  distinguished  himself  for  his  zeal  in  behalf  of  the  people  and 
their  sovereign.  They  arrived  in  Washington  in  the  winter  of 
184'2,  and  upon  their  fipplication.  President  Tyler  addressed  a  mes- 
sage to  Congress,*  in  which,  after  briefly  recapitulating  the  advan- 
tages derived  by  the  United  States  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  as  a 
place  of  trade  and  refreshment  for  vessels  in  the  Pacific,  and  allud- 
ing to  the  desire  manifested  by  their  government  to  improve  the 


•  President  Tyler's  messngc  of  December  21st,  1842,  and  accompanying  documents. 


I    4         I 


k' 


r.  [1842. 

3  liberated  ;  and 
of  these  engage- 
nd  should  remain, 
immediately  com- 
himsclf  with  w  hat 
)ccn  blameless  in 
required  and  ob- 
ry,  the  introduc- 
I'as  most  properly 
islands  on  paying 
alue  ;  an  act,  con- 
e  two  parties,  far 
St  before  exacted 
to  declare,  that  in 
/Vmerican  mission- 
him,  in  a  circular, 
hreat,  which,  it  is 
1,  have  occasioned 
tween  France  and 

'n  the  government 

in  consequence  of 

an  agent  to  the 

to  obtain,  if  pos- 

om  in  ions  by  those 

or  the  prevention 

moteo  Haalileo,  a 

)ls  of  the  niission- 

s  selected  as  the 

,  Richards,  one  of 

n  the  islands,  and 

f  the  people  and 

in   the  winter  of 

addressed  a  nies- 

ating  the  advan- 

tvich  Islands,  as  a 

acific,  and  allud- 

t  to  improve  the 

npanying  documents. 


1843.]        BRITISH  OCCUPY  SANDWICH  ISLANDS  TEMPORARILY.  373 

moral  and  social  condition  of  the  people,  he  declared  —  that  any 
attempt  by  another  power  to  take  possession  of  the  islands,  colonize 
them,  and  subvert  the  native  government,  could  not  but  create  dis- 
satisfaction on  the  part  of  the  United  States  ;  and  that  should  such 
attempt  be  made,  the  American  government  would  be  justified  in 
remonstrating  decidedly  against  it.  The  only  immediate  result  of 
this  message,  however,  was  the  despatch  of  an  American  agent  to 
the  islands,  of  whose  negotiations  no  accounts  have  been  published. 
Messrs.  Richards  and  Haalileo  proceeded  to  England,  and  thence 
to  France,  in  each  of  which  countries  their  eflbrts  are  said  to  have 
been  crowned  with  success. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  Lord  George  Paulet,  a  captain  in  the 
British  navy,  arrived  at  Woahoo,  in  February,  1843,  in  the  ship 
Carysfort,  and  demanded  from  the  king  explanations  with  regard  to 
the  conduct  of  his  government  towards  the  consul  and  subjects  of 
her  Britannic  majesty  ;  and,  not  receiving  a  satisfactory  answer 
within  the  period  prescribed,  he  threatened,  in  the  event  of  longer 
delay,  to  make  an  attack  on  Honolulu.  To  this  threat  negotiations 
succeeded,  and  the  king,  finding  himself  unable  to  comjdy  with  the 
demands,  or  to  resist  them,  declared  that  he  surrendered  all  the 
islands  under  his  dominion  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  until  the 
matter  could  be  arranged  between  the  government  of  that  country 
and  the  agents  whom  he  had  already  sent  thither.  Lord  George 
Paulet  accordingly  hoisted  tiie  British  flag,  appointed  commissioners 
to  take  charge  of  the  administration,  and  isstied  various  regulations 
for  the  government  of  the  islands  until  further  orders  could  be  re- 
ceived from  Finglaiid. 

Tile  news  of  these  events  created  much  excitement  in  the  United 
States  ;  and  a  protest  against  the  occupation  of  the  Sandwich  Isl- 
{jnds  by  Great  Hritain,  was  addressed  by  the  American  government 
to  the  court  of  London.  On  the  •2.")th  of  June,  however,  the  British 
minister  at  Washington  declared  ofHcially, —  that  the  acts  of  Lord 
George  Paulet  were  entirely  unauthorized  by  her  majesty's  govern- 
ment, which  had  determined  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the 
islands,  under  their  present  chief;  it  being,  however,  understood, 
that  the  government  of  the  islands  would  be  compelled  to  do  full 
justice  to  all  British  subjects  aggrieved  by  it :  and,  conformably 
with  this  declaration,  on  llie  31st  of  July,  the  king  was  reinstated  in 
all  his  jionors  and  privileges,  by  rear  admiral  Thonms,  the  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  British  naval  forces  in  the  Pacific. 


1 


ii 


i  -  i 


1; 


-I*^-' 


it  Hh ?*,',;.;, 


1   t- 


El!    u  4i 


374 


BRITISH  AND  FRENCH  MOVEMENTS  IN  THE  PACIFIC. 


[1843. 


These  acts  of  the  British  and  the  French,  with  regard  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  arose,  doubtless,  rather  from  poHtical  jealousy  of 
each  other,  on  the  parts  of  those  nations,  than  from  the  simple  desire 
to  protect  their  respective  subjects,  in  their  trade  or  religion.  The 
French  are  earnestly  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  firm  position  in  the 
Pacific,  as  demonstrated  by  their  attempt  to  form  a  settlement  in 
New  Zealand,  by  their  occupation  of  the  islands  north  of  the 
Marquesas  group,  discovered  by  Ingraham  in  1791,  and  by  other 
circumstances ;  whilst  the  British  have  shown  their  determination  to 
counteract  these  efibrts,  especially  in  their  resistance  to  the  occu- 
pation of  Otaheite  by  the  French,  during  the  summer  of  1843.  To 
either  of  these  nations  the  Sandwich  Islands  would  prove  a  most  valu- 
able  acquisition,  as  it  would  afford  the  means  of  controlling  the 
trade  and  fishery  of  the  North  Pacific,  and  of  exercising  a  powerful 
influence  over  the  destinies  of  the  North-west  coasts  of  America 
and  California.  The  United  States,  claiming  the  North-west  coasts, 
and  conducting  nearly  the  whole  of  the  fishery  and  trade  of  the 
North  Pacific,  are  of  course  most  deeply  interested  in  all  that  niav 
aflect  the  independence  of  these  islands ;  and  having  neither  the 
power  nor  the  will,  to  establish  their  own  authority  over  places  so 
remote,  it  is  the  policy  and  duty  of  their  government,  to  oppose, 
at  almost  any  hazard,  the  attempts  of  other  nations  to  acquire  intiu- 
ence  or  dominion  over  them.  So  long  as  these  three  nations  con- 
tinue at  peace  with  each  other,  the  Sandwich  Islands  may  continue 
independent,  and  may  be  regarded,  nominally  at  least,  as  a  civilized 
state  ;  but  should  a  war,  or  even  serious  difiiculties  occur  between 
any  two  of  these  powers,  that  independence  will  infallibly  cease. 

To  conclude,  with  regard  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  —  their  popula- 
tion is  rapidly  diminishing  under  the  too  great  warmth  of  the  civil- 
ization suddenly  planted  among  them,  by  which  new  vices  have  been 
introduced,  and  new  wants,  unaccompanied  by  any  increase  of  en- 
ergy and  industry,  have  been  engendered.  The  day  is,  probably, 
not  far  distant,  when  the  aborigines  will  be  reduced  to  a  few  wander- 
ers ;  and  the  islands  will  be,  effectively,  occupied  by  Anglo  Saxons, 
the  certain,  though  comparatively  mild,  exterminators  of  the  uncivil- 
ized races  with  which  they  are  brought  into  contact.* 

"  The  Sandwich  Ishmds  are  ten  in  number,  situated  in  the  northern  division  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  between  the  latitudes  of  1i)  and  2L'  des^iees  ;  about  '2W0  miles 
from  the  American  coast  and  r),Of!f)  miles  fioin  Cliina.  The  piincipnl  islands  arc  — 
Owyhee  or  Hawaii  the  largest,  Moweu  or  Maui,  VVoahoo  or  Oaliu,  and  Atooi  or 


PACIFIC.     [1843. 


375 


♦ 


r  I 


til 


CIIAPTER    XVIII 


184-2  TO  1844. 


Excitement  in  the  United  States  rospeeting  Oieijon — Treaty  of  Washington  ilcter- 
mining  Boundaries  between  tlie  Tinritorii-s  oi'  Great  Britain  and  tliose  of  tiie 
United  States,  east  of  tlie  Lajje  of  tlie  Woods  —  ^Ir.  Linn's  Bill  in  tlie  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  iiir  the  immediate  oecnpation  of  Oregon  —  Refleetions  on  tlio 
Convention  of  1827 — Present  State  of  tlie  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  Territories 
—  Conehision. 

DuniNG  the  latter  years  of  the  period  to  wliicli  the  preceding 
chapter  relates,  the  people  as  well  as  the  government  of  the  United 
States  were  becoming  seriously  interested  in  the  subject  of  the 
claims  of  the  republic  to  countries  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Tlie  population  of  the  Union  had,  in  fact,  been  so  much  increased, 
that  large  numbers  of  persons  were  to  be  found  in  every  part,  whose 
spirit  of  enterprise  and  adventure  could  not  be  restrained  within  the 
limits  of  the  states  and  organized  territories  ;  and,  as  the  adjoining 
central  division  of  the  continent  oflered  no  inducements  to  settlers, 
those  who  ditl  not  choose  to  fix  their  habitations  in  Texas,  began  to 
direct  their  views  towards  the  valleys  of  the  Columbia,  wiiere  they 
expected  to  obtain  rich  lands  without  cost,  and  security  under  the 
flag  of  the  stars  and  stripes. 

This  feeling  began  to  manifest  itself,  about  the  year  1837,  by  the 
formation  of  societies  for  emigration  to  Oregon,  in  various  parts  of 
the  Union,  and  especially  in  those  which  had  themselves  been  most 
recently  settled,  and  were  most  thinly  peopled.  From  these  asso- 
ciations, and  from  American  citizens  already  established  in  Oregon, 
petitions  were  presented  to  Congress,  as  well  as  resolutions  from 
the  legislatures  of  States,  urging  the  general  government,  either  to 

Kauai ;  the  others,  namely,  Tahoorowa  or  Kahulatre,  Morotai  or  Molokai,  Moro- 
iiini  or  Molokini,  Ranai  or  Liinai,  Oneehow  or  Nihaui,  and  Tahoora  or  Kaula,  are 
all  small.  The  superficial  extent  of  the  whole  group  is  about  6,500  square  miles, 
of  which  Owyhee  ineludes  about  4,500.  Owyhee  is  supposed  to  contain  80,000 
inhabitants  ;  the  population  of  the  remainder  being  about  70,000.  The  capital  is 
Honoruru  or  Honolulu,  in  Woahoo,  which  is  said  to  have  10,000  inhabitants ;  the 
only  other  town  of  any  size  is  Lahaina  in  Mowee. 


.:»i- 


1-" 


;'■ 

• 

■, 

!■' 

'  -  '  if' 

:.  . 

•l1''' 

f'*: 

1ii 

h. 

'     1 

"";■';  ,' 

r' 

it 


.■l>.i; 


■ 

■  'r 

I-  :       '' 

i 

1 

1 

376 


TREATY    OF    WASHlNfiTON. 


[184-^. 


WW  ■ 


U' 


w 


4  l^i^  f.r 

Si. 


settle  the  questions  of  ri^'lit  as  to  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  by  definitive  nrrung(;inent  witli  the  other  cluinmnt  |)ow< 
ers,  or  to  take  immediate  niihlury  |)09session  of  thut  country,  and  to. 
extend  over  it  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States ;  and  hills, 
having  for  their  object  the  accomplishment  of  one  or  the  other  of 
these  ends,  were  annually  introduced  into  each  house  of  the  fcilo- 
ral  legislature.  The  executive  branch  of  the  government  was  like- 
wise assiduously  engaged,  in  doing  all  that  could  be  done  by  it, 
with  the  same  object.  Mr.  Forsyth,  the  enlightened  and  energetic 
Secretary  of  State,  exerted  himself  to  procure  every  information, 
which  might  serve  to  establish  the  true  grounds  and  extent  of  the 
rights  of  the  United  States,  and  the  value  of  the  countries  claimed 
by  them,  in  order  that  their  government  might,  whenever  it  should 
act,  be  fully  justified  before  the  world  ;  and  Messrs.  Poinsett  and 
Paulding,  the  secretaries  of  war  and  the  navy,  besides  furnishing,' 
reports  on  various  points  connected  with  these  subjects,  which  had 
been  submitted  to  their  respective  departments,  particularly  instruct- 
ed Lieutenant  Wilkes,  the  commander  of  the  exploring  vessels  sent 
to  the  Pacific  about  this  time,  to  survey  the  Columbia  regions  as 
completely  as  he  could,  and  to  inquire  into  the  condition  and  pros- 
pects of  their  actual  occupants.* 

The  information  thus  obtained  by  the  executive  departments  and 
the  legislative  committees,  was  from  time  to  time  communicated  to 
Congress,  and  publislied  by  its  order  ;  f  no  bill,  with  regard  to  Ore- 

*  Of  this  expedition,  partial  accounts  only  linvc  appeared  ;  a  narrative  of  all  the 
incidents  and  observations,  will,  however,  soon  be  published,  with  maps,  charts, 
tables,  &c.,  which,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  will  not  yield  in  interest  and  import- 
ance to  any  similar  work  of  the  day.  In  addition  to  numerous  explorations,  dis- 
coveries and  surveys  in  the  southern  division  of  the  ocean,  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
and  the  Columbia  country,  with  the  adjacent  coasts,  were  carefully  examined  ;  nnd 
many  new  facts,  relating  to  the  geography  of  those  parts  of  the  world,  will,  doubt- 
less, be  communicated  in  the  forthcoming  narrative. 

t  Report  to  the  Senate,  by  Mr.  Linn,  with  Maps,  June  G,  1S3S.  Senate  Document, 
No.  470  of  the  2d  Session  of  the  ^rnh  Congress. 

Reports  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Alfairs,  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
respecting  the  territory  of  Oregon,  with  a  Map,  presented  Jan.  4tli  and  Feb.  IGtli, 
1S39,  by  Mr.  Cushing  ;  accompanied  by  a  bill  to  provide  for  the  protection  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  residing  in  that  territory  or  trading  on  the  Columbia 
River.    Report  of  House  of  Representatives,  No.  101,  3(i  Session  of  QHtk  Congress. 

Memoir,  Historical  and  Political,  on  the  North- West  Coast  of  North  America,  and 
the  adjacent  Countries,  with  a  Map  and  a  Geographical  View  of  those  Countries. 
By  Robert  Greenhow,  Translator  and  Librarian  to  the  Department  of  State.  Pre- 
sented Feb.  10th,  1840,  by  Mr.  Linn.  Senate  Doc.  No.  174,  1st  Session  of2(ith  Con- 
gress.   See  Preface  to  this  History. 


♦ 


[184-^. 

est  of  the  Rocky 
tier  chiinmiit  pow- 
at  country,  and  to. 
Slates ;  and  l)ilis, 
)ne  or  the  other  of 
ouse  of  the  fcde- 
/ernmcnt  was  likc- 
il  be  done  by  it, 
ned  and  energetic 
every  information, 
and  extent  of  the 
!  countries  claimed 
whenever  it  should 
essrs.  Poinsett  and 
besides  furnisiiin;; 
ubjects,  which  had 
articularly  instruct- 
[)loring  vessels  sent 
/olumbia  regions  as 
condition  and  pros- 

c  departments  and 
communicated  to 
|\'ith  regard  to  Ore- 

a  rmrrative  of  all  the 
1,  with  maps,  charts, 
u  interest  and  import- 
0113  explorations,  dis- 
le  Sandwich  Islands, 
ircfully  exuinined  ;  and 
the  world,  will,  doubt- 


1842.] 


BILL    IN  THE    SENATE    Or    THE   UNITED    STATES. 


377 


tl: 


S3S.  Senate  Document, 

30  of  Representatives, 
an.  4th  and  Feb.  IGtli, 
the  protection  of  the 
ading  on  the  Columbia 
ion  o/  2r)th  Congress. 
of  North  America,  and 
w  of  those  Countries, 
irtment  of  State.  Pre- 
st  Session  of  2(ith  Con- 


gon,  however,  passed  cither  house  of  that  body  before  1843  ;  and 
no  decisive  measure  on  that  subject  was  adopted  by  the  American 
government.  In  1842,  Lord  Ashburton  arrived  at  Washington,  as 
a  special  plenipotentiary  of  Great  Britain,  for  the  settlement  of  cer- 
tain points  of  ditrercnce  between  that  power  and  the  United  States ; 
and  it  was  at  first  su|)posed  by  the  public  in  both  countries,  that 
the  arrangement  of  the  questions  respecting  the  countries  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  was  one  of  the  objects  of  his  mission.  A 
treaty  was,  however,  concluded,  in  August  of  tliat  year,  between 
him  and  Mr.  Webster,  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States, 
in  which  all  the  undetermined  parts  of  the  line  separating  the  terri- 
tories of  the  two  nations,  from  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  were  clearly  defined  and  settled  ;  but  no  allusion  was  made 
to  any  portion  of  America  situated  farther  west.  This  treaty  was 
soon  after  ratified  by  both  governments  ;  but  the  exclusion  of  the 
Oregon  question  from  it,  seems  to  have  increased  the  excitement 
on  that  subject,  among  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
have  created  a  similar  excitement  in  Great  Britain. 

In  the  message  of  President  Tyler  to  Congress,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ensuing  session,  allusion  was  made  to  "  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  commonly  called  the  Oregon  territory,  lying  on 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  north  of  the  42d  degree  of  latitude,  to  a  portion 
of  which  Great  Britain  lays  claim.  In  advance  of  the  acquire- 
ment of  individual  rights  to  these  lands,"  continues  the  message, 
•'  sound  policy  dictates,  that  every  eflbrt  should  be  resorted  to,  by 
the  two  governments,  to  settle  their  respective  claims.  It  became 
evident,  at  an  early  hour  of  the  late  negotiations,  that  any  attempt, 
for  the  time  being,  satisfactorily  to  determine  those  rights,  would 
lead  to  a  protracted  discussion,  which  might  embrace  in  its  failure 
other  more  pressing  matters ;  and  the  executive  did  not  regard  it 
as  proper  to  waive  all  the  advantages  of  an  honorable  adjustment 
of  other  difficulties,  of  great  magnitude  and  importance,  because 
this,  not  so  immediately  pressing,  stood  in  the  way."  Having  thus 
indicated  the  circumstances  which  prevented  the  question  from 
being  discussed  during  the  recent  negotiation,  the  president  inti- 
mated his  intention  "  to  urge  on  Great  Britain  the  importance  of  its 
early  settlement." 

This  part  of  the  president's  message  was  referred  to  the  com- 
mittees on  foreign  affairs  in  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  a  few 
days  afterwards,  Mr.  Linn,  one  of  the  senators  from  Missouri,  who 

48 


M'l 


If 


^'V 


!■■   •■ 


i-N. 


:    .: 


t-.'.ti 


1 1  • 


378 


BILL    IN    TUB    SKNATK    Or    TIIK    UNITED    STATES. 


[1843. 


had  nlwnys  displnyod  llio  strongest  interest  in  nil  timt  related  to  the 
territories  west  of  tlm  Rocky  Moiintuins,  iind  Imd  iiHsiduousJy  en- 
deavored to  ellect  tlirir  incorporation  into  the  republic,  brought  a 
bill  into  the  Senate  "  to  aiithori/o  the  adoption  of  measures  for  the 
occupation  and  settlement  of  the  territory  of  Oregon,  for  extend- 
ing certain  portions  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  over  the 
same,  and  for  oth«!r  |)urpos(>s."  This  bill  proposed  —  that  the  presi- 
dent  be  authorized  and  i(M|uired  to  cause  to  be  erected,  at  suitable 
places  and  distances,  a  line  of  stockade  and  blockhouse  forts,  not 
exceeding  five  in  numiicr,  front  some  points  on  the  Missouri  and 
Arkansas  Ilivers,  into  the  best  pass  for  entering  the  valley  of  the 
Oregon,  and  also  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  — 
that  provision  be  made  by  law,  to  s(>curc  and  grant  six  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  land  to  every  white  male  inhabitant  of  the  territory  of 
Oregon,  of  the  age  of  eighteen  years  and  u{)wards,  who  shall  cultivate 
and  use  the  same  for  live  consecutive  years,  or  to  his  heirs  at  law, 
if  such  there  be,  in  case  of  his  decease  ;  and  to  every  inhabitant  or 
cultivator,  being  a  married  man,  in  addition,  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  for  his  wife,  and  the  same  for  each  of  his  children  under  the 
age  of  eighteen  years,  or  who  may  be  born  within  the  five  years 
above  mentioned  ;  provided,  that  no  sale  or  other  alienation  of  such 
lands,  or  execution  or  lien  on  them,  shall  be  valid  until  the  patents 
have  been  issued  for  them  —  that  the  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction 
of  the  Su|»reme  Court  and  the  District  Courts  of  the  territory  of 
Iowa  be  extended  over  that  part  of  the  India|i  countries  lying  west 
of  the  present  limits  of  Iowa,  south  of  the  41)th  parallel  of  latitude, 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  north  of  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween the  United  Slates  and  Texas,  not  included  within  the  limits 
of  any  state ;  and  also  over  the  Indian  countries  comprising  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  country  between  them  and  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  south  of  the  latitude  of  51  degrees  40  minutes,  and  north  of 
the  4'^d  parallel ;  and  that  justices  of  the  peace  be  appointed  for  all 
these  countries,  as  now  apj)ointed  by  law  for  Iowa,  who  shall  have 
power  to  arrest  and  conunit  for  trial,  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  Iowa, 
all  offenders  against  the  laws  of  the  United  States  ;  provided,  —  that 
any  subject  of  Great  Britain,  who  may  have  been  so  arrested  for 
crimes  or  misdcmoanors  committed  in  the  countries  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  while  they  remain  free  and  open  to  tlie  people  of 
both  nations,  shall  be  delivered  up  to  the  nearest  or  most  conve- 
nient British  authorities,  for  the  purpose  of  being  tried  according  to 


♦ 


1843.]       DBBATES    IN    TIIK    SKNATE    or    TIIK    LNITEO    HTATE3.  .'HO 

British  luws; — iind  timt  an  additioiiul  jiul^o  of  llio  Siiprcnu.'  Court 
of  lowu  be  u|)|)oiiil(n|,  utid  eiitpoworcd  to  liold  i^oiirts  in  (Ik;  coiin- 
tries  to  which  tho  bill  lelatt's.  A  preanihle  (o  the  hill,  declaring' 
ihc  rightH  of  the  United  States  tf>  all  the  tfrritoricH  we  •  of  the 
llocky  Mountains,  between  the  latitudes  of  4*2  dry^nes  una  j  I  <le- 
groca  40  minutes,  und  the  deterniinalion  oi  d  <;  tioverniiiMtt  to  niuin- 
tuin  iheni,  was  struck  out,  at  the  suji^m  stion  of  Mr.  Areher,  Upon 
tho  ground  that  it  was  at  best  unnecessary,  and  wan  certainly  un- 
courtcous  towards  the  other  party  elaimintr  the  same  territories, 
which  would  be  thus  directly  taxed  with  advancing  an  empty  pro- 
tension.  ^ 

This  bill  was  defended,  generally,  on  the  1,'rounds  that  its  adop- 
tion would  be  the  exercise  by  th<;  United  States  of  rights,  wliich 
were  unquestionable,  and  had  been  long  unjustly  withheld  from  them 
by  Great  Britain;  and  that  taking  this  for  granted,  it  ati'orded  tho 
best  means,  in  all  res|)ects,  of  making  good  those  rights,  and  securing 
to  the  Republic,  the  ultimate  jtossession  of  the  territories  west  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  must  otherwise  reniuin,  irretrievably, 
in  the  hands  of  another  power.  'J'lie  oj)ponents  to  the  bill,  all  in- 
sisted that  the  proposed  cession  of  lands  would  be  a  direct  infraction 
of  the  convention  of  18-27,  with  Great  Britain,  which  could  not  be 
legally  abrogated,  by  either  party,  until  a  year's  notice  of  such  in- 
tention had  been  given  to  the  other;  and  that  indei)endentlr  of  this 
consideration,  the  measures  proposed  were  imj)olitic,  expensive,  and 
by  no  means  calculated  to  attain  the  end  in  view.  With  regard  to 
its  particular  provisions,  the  advocates  of  the  bill  appear  to  have 
beon  unanimous,  in  considering  them  all  essential  to  its  objects, 
and  were  unwilling  to  admit  any  material  amendments ;  its  oppo- 
nents differed  as  to  some  of  those  ])rovisions,  but  they  were  united 
in  disapprobation  of  the  clause  relating  to  grants  of  lands  to  settlers. 

As  it  would  be  impossible,  within  a  reasonable  sjjace,  to  present 
clearly  all  the  views  of  the  dilVerent  members  of  the  Senate,  who 
took  part  in  this  discussion,  nothing  more  will  be  here  attempted 
than  to  indicate,  generally,  the  most  striking  points  touched  by  each. 

Mr.  Linn,  as  the  proposer  of  the  bill,  explained  and  defended  each 
of  its  provisions,  on  tho  grounds  of  their  justice,  of  tiieir  compatibil- 
ity with  the  existing  diplomatic  arrangements,  and  of  their  efficiency 
for  the  attainment  of  the  end  in  view,  namely,  —  the  possession  of 
these  extensive  and  valuable  territories,  by  the  United  States,  to 
which  they  belong  of  right.    After  recapitulating  the  various  grounds 


,f; 


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I 


1!i 
I, 


■,  f 


380  DEBATES    IN    THE    SENATE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.       [1843. 


Hit  J     'v  '-i 
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of  that  right,  he  contended  that  the  Americans  had  been  deprived  of 
the  privileges  of  the  joint  occupancy,  secured  to  them  by  the  existing 
convention  of  1827,  in  consequence  of  the  encroachments  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  which,  under  the  direct  protection  of  the 
British  government,  liad  taken  actuul  possession  of  the  whole  terri- 
tory beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Great  Britain,  he  insisted,  was 
there  employing  the  same  policy  and  mechanism,  of  a  great  trading 
company,  by  means  of  which  she  had  made  her  way  to  the  domin- 
ion of  India :  she  had  already  practically  taken  possession  of 
all  that  she  ever  claimed  south  and  north  of  the  Columbia ;  her 
agents  have  directly  avowed  that  she  would  not  give  up  the  estab- 
lishments which  she  had  encouraged  her  subjects  to  form  there  ;  and 
as  a  farther  proof  of  her  intentions,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  had, 
within  a  few  years,  founded  farming  settlements,  on  an  extensive 
scale,  from  which  large  exports  of  provisions  are  made  to  the 
Russian  posts,  and  the  Sandwich  Islands.  The  bill  proposed,  con- 
tinued Mr.  Linn,  does  not  pretend  to  dispossess  Great  Britain  of 
what  she  now  holds  ;  it  does  not  define  the  territory  of  the  United 
States.  Can  that  power  object  to  proceedings  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States,  similar  to  her  own  ?  She  has  extended  her  jurisdic- 
tion over  Oregon,  has  built  forts,  and  set  up  farming  and  other 
establishments.    Why  cannot  the  Americans  do  the  same  ? 

Mr.  Sevier,  considered  that  the  justice  of  the  claims  of  the  United 
States  being  admitted,  there  should  be  no  delay  in  taking  possession 
of  the  country  claimed,  for  which  the  only  means  were,  to  provide 
an  adequate  amount  of  population,  within  the  shortest  time.  The 
inducements  held  out  to  settlers  by  the  bill,  were  trifling,  when 
compared  with  the  difliculties  to  which  they  would  be  subjected; 
and  not  only  should  the  lands  be  granted  to  them,  and  forts  be 
built,  and  ganisoned  for  their  protection,  but,  if  necessary,  a  railroad 
should  be  made  from  the  Missouri  to  the  Columbia,  as  he  contended 
might  be  done,  for  two  millions  of  dollars,  over  which  emigrants 
might  be  conveyed  in  two  or  three  days. 

Mr.  Benton,  in  defence  of  the  bill,  entered  at  length  into  the  his- 
tory of  discovery  and  settlement,  on  the  west  coasts  of  North  Amer- 
ica, also  presenting  and  reviewing  the  various  conventions  between 
civilized  nations,  with  regard  to  it.  He  considered  the  right  of  the 
United  States,  to  the  territories  south  of  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude, 
as  determined  by  the  possession  of  Louisiana,  the  northern  boundary 
of  which  he  asserted  to  have  been  fixed  at  that  parallel,  by  commis- 


>    STATES.      [1843. 


1843.]       DEBATES    IN   THE    SENATE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  381 

sioners,  appointed  agreeably  to  the  treaty  of  Utrecht ;  and  he  was 
prepared  for  war,  if  necessary,  rather  than  surrender  any  part  of  the 
territory,  thus  rightfully  belonging  to  his  country,  the  agricultural, 
commercial  and  political  advantages  of  which  he  described  in  detail, 
displaying  the  same  minute  and  accurate  knowledge  with  regard  to 
its  geography  and  resources,  as  he  had  shown  respecting  its  history. 

Mr.  Morehead  supported  the  same  views.  Examining  the  con- 
vention of  1827,  he  conceived,  that  it  provided  only  for  temporary 
occupation  ;  but  that  the  felling  of  forests,  the  construction  of  regu- 
lar habitations,  the  fencing  in  of  fields,  the  regular  improvement  of 
the  soil,  the  fitting  up  of  mills  and  workshops,  and,  added  to  all 
these,  the  erection  of  forts  to  protect  them,  as  had  been  done  by  the 
British,  in  Oregon,  meant  something  more,  and  were  intended  to 
constitute  a  lasting,  and,  of  course,  exclusive  occupation  of  the 
places  thus  appropriated.  Now  these  are  not  merely  the  acts  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  ;  they  arc  done  under  the  sanction  of  the 
British  government,  and  they  form  the  system  adopted  everywhere 
by  that  government,  for  territorial  encroachment,  especially  against 
nations  capable  of  resisting  a  direct  attack. 

Mr.  Woodbury  took  a  view,  somewhat  different,  of  the  bearing 
of  the  convention  of  18-27,  which  he  regarded  as  leaving  to  each 
party  the  right  to  settle,  provided  the  trade  were  left  free  to  both ; 
in  support  of  this  construction,  he  cited  the  declarations  of  the 
British  ministers,  during  the  negotiations  on  that  subject,  and  the 
stipulation  proposed  by  them,  —  that  "  neither  party  should  assume, 
or  exercise  any  right  of  sovereignty  or  dominion  over  any  part  of  the 
country,"  and  —  that  "  no  settlement  then  existing,  or  which  might 
in  future  be  made,  should  ever  be  adduced  by  either  party,  in  sup- 
port, or  furtherance  of  such  claims  of  sovereignty,  or  dominion." 
On  these  grounds,  he  considered  that  the  bill  should  pass,  and  that 
the  United  States  should  no  longer  hesitate  to  exercise  rights,  which 
Great  Britain  did  not  scruple  to  exercise  herself. 

Mr.  Phelps  concurred  with  Mr.  Woodbury,  in  liis  construction  of 
the  convention  of  1827,  which  he  conceived,  would  not  be  violated 
by  the  section  of  the  bill,  providing  for  grants  of  land  to  settlers. 
The  grants  proposed,  are  but  j)rospcctive.  Citizens  of  the  United 
States  are  invited  to  settle  in  Oregon,  and,  after  having  resided 
there  five  years,  certain  portions  of  land  are  to  be  secured  to  them. 
Within  those  five  years,  the  questions  of  right  to  the  territory  will 
have  been  determined,  and  if  those  who  have  acted  on  the  faith  of 


f  f 

■  '  h      ■ 

■  ...J 

1  1      • 

1'        ■ 

i        i  .  ■ 

! 'i 

m 


0'  I 


I'ImJ 


■  I  : ! 


382  DEBATES    IN    THE    SENATE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.       [1843. 


I'  i 


iiifi  ^>* 


4-''  I'  i; 


the  invitation,  do  not  then  receive  the  advantages  ])romised,  their 
government  will,  of  course,  be  bound  to  indenniify  them. 

Mr.  Young  was  also  convinced  of  the  right  of  the  United  States 
to  the  territory  claimed  by  them  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  and 
would  give  his  full  support  to  the  bill,  which  he  conceived  in  no 
point  at  variance  with  the  stii)ulations  of  the  convention.  The 
grant  of  lands  was  promised,  and  not  to  be  directly  made.  It  was 
the  constant  custom  of  this  government,  not  to  make  the  final  grant, 
until  all  conflicting  title  had  been  extinguished,  as  evinced  by  the 
treaties  with  Indian  tribes,  for  the  acquisition  of  their  titles  to  lands : 
Great  Britain,  knowing  this,  could  not  object,  but  would  consider 
that  the  measure  is  provisional,  and  that  as  a  negotiation  was 
pending  for  the  adjustment  of  boundaries  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, no  grant  could  be  made  until  that  <iuestion  had  been  settled. 

Mr.  Mac  Roberts  dwelt  particularly  on  the  importance  to  the 
claims  of  the  United  States,  of  the  convention  of  1790,  between 
Great  Britain  and  Spain  ;  the  fifth  article  of  which,  according  to  his 
construction,  assured  to  Sj)ain  the  sovereignty  of  all  the  coasts  and 
territories  on  the  Pacific,  south  of  Nootka  Sound. 

Mr.  Henderson  regarded  the  act  of  the  British  parliament,  ex- 
tending  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  Canada  over  Oregon,  to  be 
an  act  of  possession,  and  implying  either  no  such  legal  equalities  on 
the  part  of  the  United  States,  or  that  they  also  had  their  tribuiiab, 
asserting  their  rights  of  jurisdiction  ;  which  latter  state  of  thini^s, 
would  be  a  conflict  of  jurisdictions,  inca|)able  of  being  reconciled. 
Mr.  Huntingdon,  though  firndy  convinced  of  the  rights  of  the 
United  States  to  the  territory  in  question,  and  of  the  propriety  of 
making  them  good,  so  soon  as  possible,  could  not  but  consider  the 
bill  as  an  infringement  of  the  existing  convention  with  Great  Britain. 
An  exercise  by  either  government,  of  the  sovereign  right  to  grant 
lands,  would  be  incompatible  with  that  freedom  and  oj)enness  of 
the  territory  to  the  i)eople  of  both  nations,  which  was  the  capital 
object  of  the  convention.  Such  a  gift  of  lands  was  the  highest  act 
of  territorial  sovereignty  ;  both  parties  could  not  exercise  it  at  once, 
and  the  people  of  the  one  not  exercising  it,  nmst,  of  necessity,  he 
excluded,  not  oidy  from  the  enjoyment  of  what  was  stipul.ited  as 
free  to  both,  but  from  the  territory  itself,  except  on  terms  of  suflcr- 
ance  and  inferiority.  The  present  state  of  things  should  undoubt- 
edly be  ended,  but  in  the  manner  provided  by  the  convention, 
namely,  —  by  giving  immediate  notice  to  Great  Britain  of  the  inten- 


i    STATES. 


[1843. 


;es  ])romised,  their 
I'y  tlicm. 

the  United  States 
;y  Mountains ;  and 
he  conceived  in  no 
convention.  The 
z\\y  made.  It  was 
ake  the  final  grant, 
,  as  evinced  by  the 
leir  titles  to  lands : 
)Ut  would  consider 
a   negotiation  was 

the  Rocky  Moun- 

had  been  settled. 

importance  to  the 

of  1790,  between 

;h,  according  to  his 

all  the  coasts  and 

• 

tish  parliament,  cx- 

)ver  Oregon,  to  be 
legal  e(iualities  on 
lad  their  tribunals, 

ur  state  of  thinus. 
being  reconciled, 
the   rights  of  the 

)f  the  propriety  of 
but  consider  the 

with  Great  Britain, 
gn  right  to  grant 
and  openness  of 
ch  was  the  capital 
as  the  highest  act 
exercise  it  at  once, 
st,  of  necessity,  be 
was  stipulated  as 
>n  terms  of  suflcr- 
s  should  undoubt- 
the  convention, 
ritain  of  the  inten- 


1843.]       DEBATES    IN    THE    SENATE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.         383 

tion  of  the  United  States  to  abrogate  that  convention,  at  the  expi- 
ration of  a  year. 

Mr.  Mac  Duffie  opposed  the  bill  in  toto.  He  insisted,  that  its 
adoption  would  be  a  violation  of  the  convention  with  Great  Britain ; 
as  its  tendency  was,  and  could  be  no  other  than  to  take  possession 
of  the  country,  and  to  make  ready  by  all  means  and  appliances,  to 
maintain  that  possession.  It  was  an  invitation  to  the  citizens  of  the 
Union  —  not  to  carry  on  the  fur-trade,  nor  to  do  that  which  the 
convention  permits  —  but  to  settle  permanently.  For  such  a  meas- 
ure, he  denied  that  any  emergency  then  called.  The  question  had 
slept  for  many  years,  whilst  the  United  States  were  at  the  height  of 
their  prosperity  ;  and  it  was  most  imprudent  to  bring  it  up  now, 
when  their  condition  was  far  otherwise,  and  to  brandish  the  sword 
in  the  face  of  a  powerful  opponent,  when  there  was  every  proba- 
bility that  the  matter  might  be  arranged  peaceably  by  negotiation. 
He  said,  that  Great  Britain  had  done  nothing  which  indicated  an 
intention  to  establish  for  herself  an  exclusive  occupation.  Her  forts 
were  nothing  more  than  stockades,  made  by  her  traders,  for  their 
protection  against  Indians ;  and  the  only  mode  in  which  her  sub- 
jects have  intorferod  with  American  citizens  has  been  by  under- 
selling them  in  the  commerce  with  the  natives.  lie  then  proceeded 
to  inquire  what  advantages  the  United  States  could  derive  from  the 
territories  of  which  it  was  proposed,  at  these  hazards  and  costs,  to 
take  possession.  He  rejircscntcd  the  whole  region  beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  a  vast  tract  between  that  chain  and  the 
Mississippi,  as  a  desert,  utterly  without  value  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses, and  which  no  American  citizen  should  be  condemned  to  in- 
habit, unless  as  a  punishment ;  and  ho  combated  tiie  idea,  that 
steam  could  ever  be  employed  to  facilitate  connnunications  across 
the  continent,  between  the  Columbia  countries  and  the  States  of  the 
Union.  The  expenses  which  the  passage  of  the  bill  must  entail, 
would,  he  conceived,  be  incalculable,  whilst  no  returns  could  be 
expected  for  them.  The  fur-trade,  if  advantageous,  could  benefit 
only  a  few  capitalists,  for  whose  advancement  the  agriculture,  com- 
merce, and  industry  of  the  whole  republic  should  not  be  taxed. 
In  conclusion,  he  entreated  the  Senate  to  pause  —  to  wait  a  year 
or  two  years,  in  order  to  see  what  might  be  done  by  peaceful  means, 
and  without  a  ruinous  waste  of  resources. 

Mr.  Calhoun  presented  a  summary  of  the  ground  of  the  claims  of 
the  United  States  and  of  Great  Britain  to  the  territories  in  question, 


I  ■* 


I'. 


•h 


iM 


\n 


i  !•'    I 


■lif:  ' !' 


ti-'-li 


i    I- 


:-  H 


i\h 


384  DEBATES    IN   THE    SENATE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.       [1843. 


J  r 


and  of  the  arrangements  attempted,  as  well  as  of  those  made  ;  and, 
reviewing  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  he  conceived  that  it  directly 
violated  the  subsisting  convention  on  the  subject  between  the  two 
nations.  The  American  government,  it  is  true,  does  not,  by  this 
bill,  confer  grants  of  land  upon  its  citizens,  but  it  binds  itself  to  do 
so ;  and  that  engagement  forms  a  complete  reality  as  to  assuming 
possession.  Upon  examining  all  the  acts  of  Great  Britain,  with  re- 
gard to  those  countries,  he  could  find  nothing  in  them  of  equal  ex- 
tent and  force ;  the  act  of  parliament  of  18'2l  merely  extends  the 
jurisdiction  of  British  laws  over  British  subjects,  and  authorizes  no 
possession.  He  could  not  but  anticipate  a  breach  of  the  peace  with 
Great  Britain,  if  the  part  of  the  bill  then  before  the  Senate,  relating 
to  grants  of  land,  were  carried  into  eflect ;  all  its  other  provisions 
he  regarded  favorably,  and  he  was  resolved  to  contribute,  so  far  as 
lay  in  his  power,  to  the  maintenance  of  all  the  rights  of  the  United 
States  which  could  be  exercised  conformably  with  the  convention 
of  18*27.  With  regard  to  the  value  of  the  territory  to  the  United 
States,  he  differed  with  his  colleague  (Mr.  Mac  Duffie).  He  be- 
lieved the  possession  of  the  countries  of  the  Columbia  to  be  impor- 
tant in  many  respects  ;  but  he  considered  that  the  time  was  not 
come,  when  their  occupation  should  be  attempted,  at  the  risk  of  a 
war  with  the  most  powerful  nation  of  the  earth.  The  advance  of 
the  citizens  of  the  Union  over  the  western  regions,  had  been  already 
rapid,  beyond  all  the  calculations  of  the  most  sanguine  statesmen ; 
no  extraordinary  means  were  required  from  their  government  to 
accelerate  it.  He  was  desirous  to  give  to  the  bill  all  the  attention 
which  its  importance  required  ;  and  he  hoped  that  it  would  be  re- 
committed to  the  committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  whose  report 
would  doubtless  throw  additional  light  on  the  subject. 

Mr.  Rives  likewise  presented  a  historical  review  of  the  circum- 
stances on  which  the  titles  of  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain 
were  founded.  Great  Britain  had  taken  measures  to  occupy  the 
country  in  question,  the  United  States  had  taken  none,  and  their 
right  might  thus  have  been  considered  in  time  as  waived,  but  for  the 
convention  which  preserved  it  untouched.  It  was  time  that  the 
United  States  should  act  on  the  subject ;  and  if  the  bill  could  be 
recommitted  and  reported  again,  without  the  clause  for  granting 
lands  to  settlers,  he  would  give  it  his  hearty  support :  but  considering 
that  provision  as  inconsistent  with  the  terms  of  the  existing  conven- 
tion with  Great  Britain,  he  could  not  approve  it  in  its  present  form. 


STATES.      [1843. 

those  made ;  and, 
;d  that  it  directly 
between  the  two 
docs  not,  by  this 
t  binds  itself  to  do 
lity  as  to  assuming 
it  Britain,  with  re- 
them  of  equal  ex- 
nercly  extends  the 
and  authorizes  no 
1  of  the  peace  with 
lie  Senate,  relating 
its  other  provisions 
ontributc,  so  far  as 
ights  of  the  United 
ith  the  convention 
itory  to  the  United 
c  Duffie).     He  be- 
iimbia  to  be  impor- 
the  time  was  not 
id,  at  the  risk  of  a 
,     The  advance  of 
,  had  been  already 
nguine  statesmen ; 
leir  government  to 
all  the  attention 
lat  it  would  be  re- 
ions,  whose  report 
cct. 

iw  of  the  circum- 
and  Great  Britain 
res  to  occupy  the 
in  none,  and  their 
A^aived,  but  for  the 
vas  time  that  the 
the  bill  could  be 
lause  for  granting 
rt :  but  considering 
,e  existing  conven- 
its  present  form. 


1843.]       DEBATES    IN   THE    SENATE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.         385 

Mr.  Choate  opposed  the  provision  in  the  bill  for  grants  of  land  ; 
but  in  all  other  particulars  he  was  entirely  in  favor  of  it.     He  con- 
tended that,  agreeably  to  the  convention  of  1827,  still  subsisting, 
neither  government,  as  a  government,  could  do  any  thing  to  divest 
the  citizens  or  subjects  of  the  other  of  the  enjoyment  of  the  common 
freedom  of  the  country ;  and  if  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  either 
made  establishments  there,  they  did  so  at  their  own  risk,  and  neither 
government  was  called  to  interfere.     If  this  bill  were  passed,  its 
effect  must  be  to  hinder  some  part  of  the  territory  from  being  open, 
except  as  regards  American  citizens.     He  was  willing  that  the 
United  States  should,  as  Great  Britain  had  done,  and  as  permitted 
by  the  convention,  extend  their  jurisdiction  over  all  the  countries  to 
which  the  bill  applies,  and  erect  forts  where  needed  ;  but  not  do 
more.     If  they  had  not  done  so  earlier,  it  was  to  be  attributed  to 
their  own  supineness,  not  to  the  injustice  of  the  other  party.     In 
conclusion,  he  recommended,  either  that  notice  be  given  to  Great 
Britain  of  the  intention  of  the  United  States  to  abrogate  the  con- 
vention at  the  end  of  a  year  ;  or  —  better  still  —  that  a  negotiation 
be  immediately  commenced,  by  means  of  which,  the  only  material 
subject  of  difficulty  with  that  power,  may  be  terminated  amicably. 
Mr.  Berrien  objected  to  the  bill  proposed,  on  many  grounds,  as 
to  its  principles  and  its  details.     The  question  was  one  of  the  ut- 
most gravity,  —  of  a  future  empire,  to  be  founded  in  the  west,  by 
the  institutions  and  commerce  of  the  United  States, — a  question, 
with  which  weighty  considerations  are  complicated,  including  an 
important  compact  with  a  foreign  power.     That  power  has  its  own 
views  on  this  question,  at  variance  with  those  of  the  United  States, 
but  on  which  she  doubtless  believes  as  fully.     This  bill,  however, 
supposes  all  the  right  to  be  on  the  side  of  the  Union,  which  is  thus 
legislating  upon  an  ex  parte  decision.     The  territory,  which  forms 
the  subject  of  the  discussion,  is  a  barren  and  savage  region,  as  yet 
unoccupied  by  the  people  of  either  nation,  except  for  hunting,  fish- 
ing, and  trading  with  the  natives  ;  all  which  are  conducted  freely 
and  equally  by  the  people  of  both  nations,  under  the  faith,  of  a  con- 
vention to  that  effect :  and  by  the  side  of  this  compact  a  bill  is 
placed,  which  assumes  and  engages  to  give  the  soil  itself,  and  all 
that  goes  with  it,  not  merely  for  the  term  of  the  duration  of  the 
convention,  but  "as  long  as  the  grass  shall  grow  or  the  waters  shall 
flow."     The  patents,  thus  granted,  would  bar  all  British  subjects 
from  particular  spots  ;  and  the  act  of  granting  them  being  a  clear 

49 


f 


.]' 


'  4 

!"  1 

■      ■!, 

'  i , 

if 


::i- 


i-V 


li  ■' 


i 


iwlli-lrt' 


}■'<% 


m 


-',: 


r  ' 


■ii'f 


I 


■   1, 


■iv 


i 


if     ■ 


386 


DEBATES    IN   THE   SENATE  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 


[184.3. 


and  positive  appropriation,  by  the  American  government,  of  that 
domain,  would  certainly  be  a  violation  of  the  compact.  It  has  been 
alleged,  that  the  patents  are  not  immediate,  but  provisional ;  that 
the  government  pledges  itself  to  issue  them  to  those  entitled  to 
receive  them,  at  the  end  of  five  years :  but  there  is  no  diftcrence 
between  these  two  forms  of  the  act  of  a  government  —  of  a  per- 
petual body ;  the  parties  are  put  into  present  possession,  and  pro- 
tection is  promised  to  them  there.  The  bill,  moreover,  violates  tlio 
faith  of  the  political  contract  at  home,  by  interfering  with  tlic 
treaty-making  power  of  the  executive.  The  adjustment  of  the 
matter  by  negotiation  with  Great  Britain,  is  only  postponed,  in  order 
that  it  may  be  soon  resumed,  with  the  prospect  of  accommodation ; 
and  it  is  most  inexpedient,  at  such  a  moment,  to  interfere  with  the 
legitimate  organ  of  the  government,  for  such  functions.  Were  the 
bill  passed,  it  would  warrant,  in  his  opinion,  the  exercise,  by  the 
President,  of  the  qualified  I'eto,  given  to  iiim  by  the  constitution, 
for  the  protection  of  the  peculiar  prerogative  of  his  ollice. 

Mr.  Archer  directed  his  attention  chiefly  to  what  he  considered 
as  the  two  great  points  j)rcsented  for  consideration  by  this  hill; 
namely  — the  consistency  of  the  provision  for  granting  allodial  titlos 
to  lands  in  Oregon,  with  the  stipulations  of  the  Convention  of  1  B.'JT  — 
and  the  general  policy  of  accelerating  the  scttl(>ment  of  that  territory 
by  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Upon  the  first  point  he  showed, 
by  reference  to  the  proceedings  and  results  of  the  several  negotia- 
tions between  the  United  Slates  and  Great  Britain  on  the  subject,  that 
the  title  to  the  territory  had  been  the  only  question  discussed  ;  that 
no  agreement  on  that  question  had  ever  been  attained,  and  that  tlio 
two  governments,  finding  it  impossible  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory 
conclusion,  had,  by  the  convention,  dissoluble  at  the  pleasure  of 
either,  left  the  country  equally  free  to  the  people  of  both.  The  title 
was  thus  in  suspense,  and  with  it  were  suspended  all  the  privilegoj: 
flowing  therefrom,  except  those  of  temporary  use ;  most  especially 
was  suspended  the  right  to  grant  a  property  in  the  soil :  and  if  this 
were  not  the  true  meaning  and  intention  of  the  agreement,  it  was 
vain  and  useless.  No  breach  of  the  contract  on  the  part  of  Great 
Britain  had  been  proved ;  the  people  of  that  nation  had  indeed 
gained  advantages  in  trade  over  the  citizens  of  the  United  States: 
yet  it  was  not  by  constraint  or  intimidation,  but  by  greater  dextcrit , 
in  business,  which  involved  no  contravention  of  stipulations,  and 
could  authorize  no  contravention  on  the  other  side.     If  the  present 


:d  states. 


[1843. 


government,  of  that 

mpact.     It  has  been 

lit  provisional;   tluit 

to  those  entitled  to 

here  is  no  dift'erencc 

jrnment  —  of  a  pcr- 

possession,  and  pro- 

lorcover,  violates  the 

nterfering   with   the 

adjustment  of  the 

y  postponed,  in  order 

of  accommodation; 

o  interfere  with  the 

mclions.     Were  the 

the  exercise,  by  the 

by  the  constitution, 

his  office. 

what  he  considered 
oration   by  this  bill; 
granting  allodial  titles 
onvention  of  1 8l]1  — 
ment  of  that  territory 
irst  point  he  shewed. 
the  several  ncgotia- 
n  on  the  subject,  that 
stion  discussed ;  that 
ttained,  and  that  the 
ivc  at  a  satisfactory 
at  the  pleasure  of 
-of  both.     The  title 
ed  all  the  privilege;: 
ise ;   most  especially 
the  soil :    and  if  tills 
ic  agreement,  it  was 
m  the  part  of  Great 
nation  had  indeed 
the  United  States : 
by  greater  dextcriv. 
of  stipulations,  and 
,ide.     If  the  present 


1843.]       DEBATES    IN    THE    SENATE    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES.  387 

bill  should  become  a  law,  the  United  States  must  be  prepared  to 
maintain  and  execute  all  its  provisions  ;  and  Great  Britain,  tiiough 
like  the  United  States,  directly  interested  in  the  continuance  of 
peace,  would,  if  she  viewed  the  measures  in  question  as  an  infringe- 
ment of  the  Convention,  stand  upon  that  point,  when  she  might  not 
stand  upon  the  value  of  the  territory.  War  might  be  the  conse- 
quence, and  it  was  i)roper  to  consider  on  which  side  the  advantages 
would  be  in  the  contest,  and  what  would  be  its  results.  In  any 
case,  whether  or  not  war  should  ensue,  the  question  of  the  posses- 
sion of  Oregon  could  only  be  decided  by  negotiation  ;  and  if,  at  the 
end  of  a  war,  the  United  States  siiould  obtain  all  that  they  here 
claim,  it  would  be  but  a  poor  recompense  for  the  evils  and  costs 
incurred.  With  regard  to  the  policy  of  accelerating  the  settlement 
of  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  by  American  citizens, 
Mr.  Archer  coincided  nearly  in  opinion  with  Mr.  MacDutfie  ;  he  con- 
sidered that  territory  as  of  little  value  to  any  nation  ;  the  part  near 
the  coast  alone  contained  land  fit  for  agricultural  purposes,  and  there 
were  no  harbors  which  woio  or  could  be  rendered  tolerable.  The 
United  States  had  seven  hundred  millions  of  acres  of  land  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  still  vacant,  of  which  a  large  portion  was  more 
fertile  and  salubrious  than  any  other  lands,  wherever  they  might  be, 
even  in  Oregon  ;  these  should  be  occupied  before  the  population 
could  with  reason  be  urged  to  establish  themselves  in  the  latter 
country.  In  conclusion,  he  had  no  objection  to  the  extension  of  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  to  the  Pacific,  in  the  manner  pro- 
posed by  the  bill,  or  to  the  erection  of  forts  on  the  Columbia,  if  they 
should  be  found  necessary  ;  or  to  any  other  measure  which  might  be 
taken  pari  passu  with  Great  Britain,  not  inconsistent  with  reciprocal 
stipulations :  but  he  should  oppose  the  provision  respecting  grants  of 
land,  not  only  for  the  reasons  already  given,  but  also  because  it 
would  tend  to  defeat  the  very  object  of  the  bill,  namely,  —  the  ultimate 
possession  of  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

To  the  objections  thus  made  to  his  bill,  Mr.  Linn  replied  at 
length,  displaying  considerable  ingenuity  of  argument,  particularly 
with  the  object  of  shewing  that  all  which  was  thereby  openly  pro- 
posed had  been  already  done  in  a  covert  manner  by  Great  Britain. 
He  dwelt  on  the  great  importance  of  the  Oregon  countries,  —  on  the 
vast  extent  of  lands  on  the  Columbia  and  its  tributary  streams, 
which  were  said  to  exceed  in  productiveness  any  in  the  States  of 


li 


1^: 
\ 

.1,1 


'i| 


'  1 


I-"  i 


'■■\ 

i'  'I- ■'' 

I       1    -^i, 

,J  i 

1 

'i' 

K 


I  r ' '! . 


383 


DEBATES  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


[1843. 


the  Union,  —  and  on  the  number  and  excellence  of  the  harbors  on 
those  coasts,  the  use  of  which  was  imperatively  required  by  the 
American  whaling  vessels  employed  in  the  adjacent  ocean, — on  the 
facility  with  which  travel  and  transportation  might  be  eflected 
across  the  continent,  by  means  of  ordinary  roads  at  present, 
and  by  railroads  hereafter ;  and  he  produced  a  number  of  letters, 
reports,  and  other  documents  from  various  sources,  confirming  all 
these  statements.  Finally,  he  appealed  to  the  honor  and  generosity 
of  the  nation,  for  its  protection  to  the  American  citizens  already 
established  in  Oregon,  who  had  gone  thither  in  confidence  that 
such  aid  would  be  extended  to  them,  and  were  groaning  under  the 
oppressions  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

Previous  to  the  final  vote,  Mr.  Archer  endeavored  to  have 
the  clause,  respecting  the  grants  of  lands,  struck  out ;  but  liis 
motion  did  not  prevail,  and  on  the  3d  of  February,  1843,  the  bill 
was  passed  l)y  the  Senate,  twenty-four  being  for,  and  twenty-two 
against  it.  It  was  immediately  sent  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, in  which  a  report  against  its  passage  was  made  by  Mr.  Adunis. 
the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Afiairs ;  the  session, 
however,  expired,  without  any  debate  on  the  subject  in  that  house.* 

During  the  many  years  in  the  course  of  which  the  question  of 
the  occupation  of  Oregon  by  the  United  States  was  frequently  (hs- 
cussed  in  Congress,  nothing  whatever  was  said  on  that  subj-  ct,  in 
the  British  Parliament,  before  1843.  The  debates  on  Mr.  Linn's 
bill,  in  which  the  whole  policy  of  the  American  government,  its 
means  and  intentions,  its  strength  and  its  weakness,  were  minutely 
set  forth  and  communicated  to  the  world,  did  not  however  fail  to 
elicit  some  observations  from  the  leaders  of  the  two  parties  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  Whilst  the  treaty  recently  concluded  at 
Washington,  relative  to  boundaries  east  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods, 
was  before  that  body,  frequent  allusions  were  made  to  the  measures 
proposed  in  Congress  "  for  immediately  taking  forcible  possession  " 
of  Oregon,  and  to  the  spirit  of  the  American  people  on  that  subject, 
as  indicated  by  the  speeches,  and  the  passage  of  the  bill  for  those 
measures,  in  the  Senate.f     Lord  Palmerston,  the  leader  of  the  op- 


*  This  was  dostineil  to  be  the  last  effort  of  Mr.  Linn,  for  the  advancement  of  the 
cause  to  wliich  he  had  so  lonir  devoted  his  powerful  energies.  He  expired  on  the 
3d  of  October,  1S43,  at  iiis  residence  in  St.  Genevieve,  Missouri,  witliout  warning, 
and  probably  without  a  struggle. 

t  Debates  in  Parliament,  March  21st,  1843. 


♦' 


STATES. 


[1843. 


1843.J 


REVIEW   OF   THE    CONVENTION   OP    1827. 


389 


\. 


I  of  the  harbors  on 
J  required  by  the 
it  ocean, — on  the 
miuht  be  eflected 
•oads  at  present, 
number  of  letters, 
ces,  confirming  all 
nor  and  generosity 
,n  citizens  already 
m  confidence  that 
groaning  under  the 

deavored    to   have 
ruck  out ;  but  iiis 
lary,  184.3,  the  bill 
or,  and  twenty-two 
ise  of  Rcpresenta- 
adu  by  Mr.  Adams. 
flairs ;  the  session, 
•ject  in  that  house.* 
lich  the  question  of 
ivas  fre<|uently  dis- 
on  that  subj'  ct,  in 
ites  on  Mr.  Linn's 
,n  government,  its 
ess,  were  minutely 
lOt  however  fail  to 
two  parties  in  the 
ntly    concluded  at 
,ake  of  the  Woods, 
Ide  to  the  measures 
ircible  possession  " 
le  on  that  subject, 
the  bill  for  those 
leader  of  the  op- 


lie  advjinccnicnt  of  the 

^3.     Ho  expired  on  llie 

)uri.  without  warning, 


position  to  the  ministry,  pronounced,  that  if  this  bill  were  to  pass, 
and  be  acted  on,  it  would  be  a  declaration  of  war ;  it  would  be  the 
invasion  and  seizure  of  a  territory,  in  dispute,  by  virtue  of  a  decree, 
made  by  one  of  the  parties  in  its  own  favor :  be— moree^^  con- 
ceived, that  the  passage  of  such  a  bill  by  the  Senate,  a  body 
comprising  among  its  members  a  large  portion  of  the  men  of  the 
greatest  weight  and  most  distinguished  ability  in  the  United  States, 
showed  a  most  excited  condition  of  the  public  mind  in  that  country. 
In  answer  to  this,  Sir  Robert  Peel,  the  Premier,  simply  said,  that 
a  proposition  had  been  addressed  to  the  American  government,  for 
considering  the  best  means  of  efi'ccting  a  conciliatory  adjustment  of 
the  questions  with  regard  to  Oregon  ;  and  if  the  bill  had  passed 
the  legislature  of  the  Union,  it  would  not  have  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  executive,  which  had  given  to  the  British  government 
the  strongest  assurances  of  anxiety,  to  settle  those  questions  by 
negotiation. 

In  order  to   determine  whether  the  bill  for  the  occupation  of 
Oregon,  passed  by  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  1843,  could, 
if  it  had  become  a  law,  have  been  carried  into  fulfilment  without  a 
breach  of  public  faith,  until  after  the  abrogation  of  the  existing 
convention  with  Great  Britain,  in  the  manner  therein  stipulated,  it 
will  be  necessary  first  to  analyze   thiit  convention,  and  to  reduce 
the  various  permissions,  re<|uirements  and  prohibitions  involved  in 
it,  to  their  simplest  expressions.     The  two  nations  on  agreeing,  as 
by  that  convention,  to  leave  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, with  its  waters,  free  and  open  to  the  citizens  and  subjt>cts  of 
both,  of  course  agreed,  that  neither  should  exercise  any  exclusive 
dominion,  or  do  any  thing  calculated  to  hinder  the  people  of  the 
other  from  enjoying  the  promised  advantages,  in  any  part  of  that 
territory.     Each    nation  of  course  reserved  to   itself  the    right  to 
provide  for  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  the  administration  of 
justice  among  its  own  citizens,  and  to  appoint  agents  for  that  pur- 
pose to  reside  in  the  territory  ;  it  was,  indeed,  the  duty  of  each  as  a 
civilized  power  to  do  so  without  delay  :   and  it  was  morally  impera- 
tive upon  these  governments  to  enter  into  a  supplementary  compact 
for  the  exercise  of  concurrent  jurisdiction,  in  cases  aflfecting  the  per- 
sons or  interests  of  subjects  or  citizens  of  both  nations,  unless  provi- 
sion to  that  eflect  should  have  already  been  made  in  some  other  way. 
Finally,  as  the  country  was  inhabited  by  tribes  of  savages,  the  citi- 
zens and  subjects  of  each  of  the  civilized  nations  residing  therein. 


I'r; 


i 

'i.i 


!i! 


\ 


I,       ! 


1    -    '■. 


1  '  ;-■ 


I       I 


il 


^P,    1 


\'Vil 


ir  ! 


hi.      i 


i:i- 


^^■A'- 


u' 


%miyY\^i  ',1, 


300 


REVIEW    OF    THE    CONVENTION    OF 


1827. 


(1843. 


xnv^hi  take  precautions  for  their  defence  against  attacks  from  those 
savages,  by  military  organization  among   themselves,  and  by  the 
erection  of  the  fortifications  necessary  for  that  special  purpose  ;  and 
it  here  again  became  the  duty  of  the  contracting  parties  to  settle 
by  compact  the  manner  in  vi^hich  their  governments  might  jointly  or 
separately  aid  their  people  in  such   defence.     As  the   advantages 
otlcred  to  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  the  two  nations  are  not  defined, 
the  terms  of  the  convention  relating  to  them,  are  to  be  understood 
in  their  most  extensive  favorable  sense ;  including  the  privileges,  not 
only  of  fishing,  hunting  and  trading  with  the  natives,  but  also  —  of 
clearing  and  cultivating  the  ground,  and  using  or  disposing  of  the 
|)ro(lncts  of  such  labor  in  any  peaceful  way  —  of  erecting  build- 
ings for  residence  or  other  purposes,  and  making  dams,  dikes,  ca- 
nals, bridges,  and  any  other  works  which  the  private  citizens  or 
suljjects  of  the  parties  might  erect  or  make  in  their  own  countries; 
iMidor  no  other  restrictions  or  limitations  than   those  contained  in 
the  clause  of  the  convention  providing  for  the  freedom  and  open- 
ness of  the  territory,  or  those  which  might  be  imposed  by  the  re- 
sj^octive  governments. 

This  appears  to  be  the  amount  of  the  permissions,  requiiemenis 
and  prohibitions  of  the  convention ;  and  had  the  two  governments 
done  all  that  is  here  demanded,  no  difficulties  could  have  been  rea- 
sonably apprehended,  so  long  at  least  as  the  territory  in  question  re- 
mains thinly  peopled.  These  things,  however,  have  not  all  been  done. 
Not  only  has  no  supplementary  compact  been  made,  l.otwcen  the 
two  governments,  but  the  United  States  have  neglected  to  secure 
the  protection  of  their  laws  to  their  citizens,  who  have  thus,  doubt- 
less in  part,  been  prevented  from  drawing  advantjiges  from  the 
convention,  equal  to  those  long  since  enjoyed  by  British  subjects, 
under  the  security  of  the  prompt  and  efficient  measures  of  their  gov- 
ernment. 

If  this  view  of  the  existing  convention  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain,  relative  to  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky 
INIountains  be  correct,  and  embrace  all  that  it  allows,  demands  and 
forbids,  neither  of  the  parties  could  be  justified,  during  the  subsistence 
of  the  agreement,  in  ordering  the  erection  of  forts  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia,  where  they  certainly  are  not  required  for  protection 
against  any  third  power,  and  in  promising  to  secure  large  tracts  of 
land  in  that  territory,  by  patent,  to  its  citizens  or  subjects.  Had 
the  bill  passed  by  the  Senate  in  1843,  become  a  law,  the  convention 


(  I 


1^ 


1827.  [1843. 

attacks  from  those 
selves,  and  l)y  tlio 
;)cciul  purpose  ;  and 
lin;^  parties  to  settle 
iits  inij^ht  jointly  or 
As  the  advantages 
ins  are  not  detiMid. 
re  to  be  understood 
L,'  the  priviU'^'cs,  not 
tivcs,  but  also  —  of 
or  disposing  of  the 
-of  erecting  build- 
ng  dams,  dikes,  ca- 

])rivatc  citizens  or 
heir  own  countries: 

those  contained  in 
freedom  and  open- 
imposed  by  the  rt- 


ssions,  rcquiiements 
|ic  two  governments 

•uld  have  been  rea- 
itory  in  question  rc- 
vc  not  aU  been  done. 
made,  lotween  the 
neglected  to  secure 
have  thus,  doubt- 
[Ivantiiges  from  the 

)y  British  subjects, 
lasures  of  their  gov- 

n  the  United  States 
^est  of  the  Rocky 
lows,  demands  and 
iring  the  subsistence 
ts  at  the  mouth  of 
lired  for  protection 
cure  large  tracts  of 
or  subjects.  Had 
law,  the  convention 


1843.]        EMIGHANTS  FUOM  TMK  UNITF.D  STATES  TO  OnEGON. 


391 


would  from  that  moment  have  been  virttndly  and  violently  rescind- 
rd ;  and  any  attempt  to  enforce  the  measures  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  resisted  by  Great  Britain.  The  abrogation  of  the  con- 
vention, in  the  manner  therein  provided,  or  in  some  other  way,  by 
common  consent  of  the  parties,  shoidd  precede  all  attempts  by  either, 
to  occupy  any  spot  in  the  territory  permanently  ;  and  whenever  the 
government  of  either  nation  considers  the  time  to  be  near,  in  which 
such  occupation  by  its  own  citizens  or  subjects  will  be  indispensa- 
ble, it  should  endeavor  to  settle  by  negotiation  with  the  other  power, 
some  mode  of  effecting  that  object,  before  giving  notice  of  its  inten- 
tion to  abrogate  the  agreement ;  for  such  a  notice  can  only  be 
regarded  as  the  announcement  of  the  determination  of  the  party 
giving  it,  to  take  forcible  possession  of  the  territory,  at  the  end  of 
the  period  prescribed. 

Lord  Palmornton  was  not  mistaken  in  his  estimate  of  the  excite- 
ment existing  in  the  United  States  on  this  subject ;  and  that  excite- 
ment has  been  infinitely  increased,  by  the  recent  debates  in  the 
Senate.  On  the  faith  of  the  promise  held  out  by  the  passage  of 
the  bill  for  the  immediate  occupation  of  Oregon,  nearly  a  thou- 
sand American  citizens,  men,  women,  and  children,  began  their 
march  in  June,  1843,  from  Missouri  to  the  Columbia  ;*  and  there 

*  Tlicse  eniis .nuts  toolc  tlicir  departure  from  Wcstport,  in  INIissouri,  tlie  place  of 
ic'iidezvons,  in  tin-  lieginniii;.^  of  June,  IS-lli,  with  about  two  liundred  wagons,  and  a 
liiige  number  of  liorses  anil  cattle  ;  and  having  soon  after  divid<'d  into  four  bodies, 
they  pursued  their  march  along  the  valley  of  the  river  Platte,  through  the  Southern 
Piiss  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  over  the  great  ridge,  separating  the  waters  of 
tlie  Colorado  from  those  of  the  Columbia,  to  Fort  Hall,  the  Hudson's  Buy  Com- 
pany's post  on  the  Lewis  River,  where  they  arrived  in  August.  They  lost  six  or 
seven  of  their  number  on  their  way  to  Fort  Hall,  from  sickness,  fatigue  and  acci- 
dents;  but,  upon  the  whole,  their  progress  was  attended  with  fewer  diilicultics,  or 
dangers,  than  they  had  antici|)ated.  The  Sioux  and  Blaekfeet  Indians  did  not 
venture  to  attack  them  ;  but  gazed  at  a  distance,  with  wonder,  on  those  pale-faces, 
leaving  their  sunny  valleys  on  the  Mississippi,  for  the  rugged  barren  wastes  of  the 
Colundjia.  Since  their  depaiture  from  Fort  Hall  nothing  has  been  heard  from  the 
emigrants ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  they  will  meet  with  any  obstacles 
of  consequence,  in  their  way  to  the  Willaniet  Valley,  which  seems  to  be  the  place 
of  their  immediate  destination. 

It  is  somewhat  curious,  that  on  the  first  of  July,  1S43,  whilst  this  large  body  of 
emigrants  were  quietly  pursuing  their  way  across  the  continent,  an  article  ap- 
peared in  the  Edinburgh  Review,  —  a  work  so  generally  correct  on  American  affairs, 
anil  so  reasonable  in  its  views  a!id  speculations,  with  regard  to  them  —  containing 
such  observations  as  the  following  —  "  However  the  political  questions  between 
England  and  America,  as  to  the  ownership  of  Oregon  may  be  decided,  Oregon  will 
never  be  colonized  overland  from  the  United  States.  *  »  »  j'/^.  world  must  assume 
a  new  face,  before  the  .American  wagons  make  plain  the  road  to  the  Columbia  as  they 


"i 


i;i.i 


'*•!.; 


I  , 


'  <■ '.'  - 


i'  U- 


■m^ 


']mWr'^'' 


ki^^Mi 


1  ^■ 


'i\:A, 


M^l 


1 

■  ■  I 

H  lit 

392 


EMinilANTS  I'llOM  THE  UNITED  STATES  TO  OREGON.        [1810. 


is  reason  to  believe  that  even  n  prenter  number  will  soon  follow,  if 
the  accounts  t'roni  tlioHU  ulretuly  pone  should  prove  as  favorable  ns 
may  bo  expected.  These  inuniprations  must  necessarily  change 
the  aspect  of  the  queKtions  at  issue  between  Great  Hritain  and  the 
United  States,  and  mati.'rially  atlect  the  views  of  their  governments; 
arrangements  which  might  have  been  made  when  the  number  of 
American  citizens  and  tlu;  amount  of  American  interests  in  Oregon 
were  trilling,  may  have  been  thus  rendered  impracticable,  and  the 
obstacles  to  an  amicable  adjustment  may  have  U-en  considerahly 
increased. 

For  the  long  and  entire  silence  in  the  British  legislature  with 
regard  to  Oregon,  the  ministry  appears  to  have  made  ample  amends, 
by  care  and  action  ;  and  every  thing  seenis  to  have  been  done 
which  could  tend  to  secure  for  (ireat  Britain  the  ultimate  possession 
of  the  whole  territory  drained  by  the  Columbia,  without  infringinfr, 
in  the  mean  time,  the  agreement  made  with  the  United  States. 
For  this  purpose  the  British  ministers  could  have  no  counsellors 
better  (|ualitied  to  advise,  or  whose  interests  were  more  completely 
identified  with  those  of  the  government,  than  the  Hudson's  Hay 
Company ;  and  from  the  results,  the  utmost  confidence  may  be 
supposed  to  exist  between  those  two  parties. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  Conipany,  re|)resenting  in  all  respects  the 
interests  of  (ireat  Britain,  in  North- West  America,  has  indeed  he- 
come  a  powerful  body.  The  field  of  its  operations  was  more  than 
doubled  by  its  union  with  the  North-West  Company,  and  by  the 
license  to  trade,  in  exclusion  of  all  other  British  subjects,  in  the 
countries  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  the  fur-bearing  ani- 
mals were  more  abundant  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world; 
while  the  extension  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Canada  courts  over 
the  whole  division  of  the  continent,  to  which  its  charters  apply, 
and  the  ap})ointment  of  its  own  agents  as  magistrates,  in  those  re- 
gions, gave  all  that  could  have  been  desired  for  the  enforcement  of 
its  regulations.     The  arrangement  made  with  the  Russian  American 

have  done  to  the  Ohio.  •  *  •  Wlioever,  tlicreforo,  is  to  be  the  future  owner  of 
Oreijon,  its  people  will  come/ram  Europe.'^  Tliis  is  not  the  lirst  occasion,  in  vvhieli 
European  predictions,  implying  doubts  as  to  the  energy  of  American  citizens,  and 
the  success  of  tlieir  undertakings,  liave  been  contradicted  by  facts  so  soon  as  ut- 
tered. Wliatevcr  may  be  tlie  result  of  tiiis  enterjirise,  certain  it  is  that  the  emi- 
grants from  the  Missouri,  with  tlieir  wives,  their  children  and  their  waa[ons,  arrived 
in  Oregon  ;  an<l  no  one  will  question  their  power  to  maintain  themselves  there,  if 
any  other  people  can  do  so. 


h 


» 


I  OREGON.        [1813. 

will  soon  follow,  if 
>V('  as  liivomhlc  m 
urcessarily  clmii{;;(; 
ut  Hritniii  mid  the 
tlifir  govcrnnicnts ; 
icii  the  nuinliur  of 
interests  in  Oregon 
prncticable,  and  the 
b<;cn  considembly 

isli   legislature  with 

ladc  ample  amends, 

t   have    been  done 

ultimate  possession 

without  infringini:, 

the  United  States. 

lavc  no  counsellors 

re  more  completely 

the   Hudson's  Bay 

confidence  may  be 

in  all    respects  the 
rica,  has  indeed  bo- 
ions  was  more  than 
tinpuny,  and  by  the 
ish  subjects,  in  the 
he  fur-bearing  ani- 
lart  of  the  world; 
anada  courts  over 
its  charters  apply, 
itrates,  in  those  re- 
the  enforcement  of 
Russian  American 

be  the  future  owner  of 
lirst  occasion,  in  wliicli 
lAinericiin  citizens,  anil 
lljy  facts  so  soon  ns  ut- 
Itain  it  is  that  the  cmi- 
[<1  tlieir  wojions,  arrived 
Lin   themselves  there,  if 


1843.] 


NEW   GRANT   TO    IIL'USUN  S    BAY    COMPANY. 


398 


Company,  through  the  Intervention  of  the  two  governments,  se- 
cured to  the  HudHon's  Bay  Com^Hiny  the  most  advantageous  limits 
in  the  north-west ;  and  the  ftosition  assumed  by  Great  Britoin,  in 
the  discussions  with  the  United  States,  respecting  Oregon,  were 
calculated  to  increase  the  confidence  of  the  body,  in  the  strength  of 
its  tenure  of  that  country,  and  to  encourage  greater  efforts  on  iti 
part  to  assure  that  tenure. 

The  license  granted  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  1821,  ex- 
pired in  1842,  but  another  had  been  previously  conceded,  also  for 
twenty-one  years,  containing  some  new  and  ir.'portant  provisions.* 
Thus,  the  Company  was  bound,  under  hea  v  penalties,  to  enforce 
the  due  execution  of  all  criminal  processes,  by  the  officers  and 
other  persons  legally  empowered,  in  all  its  territories  ;  and  to  make 
and  submit  to  the  government  such  rules  and  regulations  for  the 
management  of  the  trade  with  the  Indians,  as  should  be  eflcctual 
to  prevent  the  sale  and  distribution  of  spirituous  liquors  among 
them,  and  to  promote  their  moral  and  religious  improvement.  It  is 
moreover  declared  in  the  grant,  that  nothing  therein  contained 
should  authorize  the  Company  to  claim  the  right  of  trade  in  any 
part  of  America,  to  the  prejudice  or  exclusion  of  the  people  of  "  any 
foreign  states"  who  may  be  entitled  to  trade  there,  in  virtue  of  con- 
ventions between  such  states  and  Great  Britain  ;  and  the  govern- 
ment reserves  to  itself  the  right  to  establish  within  the  territories 
included  in  the  grant,  any  colony  or  province,  to  annex  any  part  of 
those  territories  to  any  existing  colony  or  province,  and  to  apply  to 
such  portion  any  form  of  civil  government  which  might  be  deemed 
proper.  Whether  this  last  provision  was  introduced  with  some 
special  and  immediate  object,  or  with  a  view  to  future  contingen- 
cies, no  means  have  as  yet  been  aflbrded  for  determining.  It  is, 
however,  certain,  that  the  British  government  insisted  strongly  on 
retaining  the  above-mentioned  privileges  ;  and  it  is  most  probable 
that  the  Red  River  and  the  Columbia  countries  were  in  view  at  the 
time,  as  the  remainder  of  the  territory,  included  in  the  grant  and 
not  possessed  by  the  Company  in  virtue  of  the  charter  of  1669,  is 
of  little  value  in  any  way. 

In  addition  to  the  assistance  and  protection  thus  received  from 
the  British  government,  the  constitution  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany is  such  as  to  secure  the  utmost  degree  of  knowledge  and  pru- 

*  See  extracts  from  these  charters,  showing  all  their  provisions,  in  the  Proofs 
and  Illustrations  under  the  letter  I. 

50 


')' 


1 


t  nil 


ii'  ^ 


'  i 


M 


w 


394 


GOVERNMENT  OF  HUDSON  S  BAY  COMPANY. 


[1843. 


dence  in  its  councils,  and  of  readiness  and  exactness  in  the  execu- 
tion of  its  orders.  Its  affairs  are  superintended  by  a  Governor,  a 
Deputy  Governor,  and  a  Committee  of  Directors,  established  at 
London,  by  whom  all  general  orders  and  regulations  are  devised 
and  issued,  and  all  reports  and  accounts  are  examined  and  con- 
trolled. Tlie  proceedings  of  this  body  are  enveloped  in  profound 
secrecy,  and  the  communications  made  to  the  government  in  writ- 
ing, which  are  likely  to  •  be  published,  are  expressed  in  terms  of 
studied  caution,  and  afford  only  the  details  absolutely  required. 
The  trade  in  America  is  especially  directed  by  a  Resident  Governor, 
who  occasionally  visits  and  inspects  all  the  principal  posts  ;  under 
him,  as  officers,  are  chief  factors,  chief  traders,  and  clerks,  for  the 
most  part  natives  of  North  Britain,  and  an  army  of  regular  servants, 
employed  as  hunters,  traders,  voyageurs,  &c.,  nearly  all  of  them 
Canadians  or  half-breeds.  The  number  of  all  these  persons  is  small, 
when  compared  with  the  duties  which  they  have  to  perform ;  but 
the  manner  in  which  they  are  admitted  into  the  service,  and  the 
training  to  which  they  are  subjected,  are  such  as  to  render  their 
efficiency  and  their  devotion  to  the  general  interests  as  great  as 
possible.  The  strictest  discipline,  regularity  and  economy  are  en- 
forced in  every  part  of  the  company's  territories ;  and  the  magis- 
trates appointed  under  the  act  of  parliament  for  the  preservation  of 
tranquilUty,  are  seldom  called  to  exercise  their  functions,  except  in 
the  settlement  of  trifling  disputes. 

In  the  treatment  of  the  aborigines  of  the  countries  under  its 
control,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  appears  to  have  admirably 
combined  and  reconciled  policy  with  humanity.  The  prohibition  to 
supply  those  people  with  ardent  spirits,  appears  to  be  rigidly  en- 
forced. Schools  for  the  instruction  of  the  native  children  are  estab- 
lished at  all  the  principal  trading  posts,  each  of  which  also  contains 
a  hospital  for  sick  Indians,  and  offers  employment  for  those  who  are 
disposed  to  work,  whilst  hunting  cannot  be  carried  on.  Missiona- 
ries of  various  sects  are  encouraged  to  endeavor  to  convert  them  to 
Christianity,  and  to  induce  them  to  adopt  the  usages  of  civilized 
life,  so  far  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  nature  of  the  labors  re- 
quired for  their  support ;  and  attempts  are  made,  at  great  expense, 
to  collect  the  Indians  in  villages,  on  tracts  where  the  climate  and 
soil  are  most  fri  '/orable  for  agriculture.  Particular  care  is  extended 
to  the  education  of  the  half-breed  children,  the  offspring  of  the 
marriage  or  concubinage  of  the  traders  with  the  Indian  women, 


r  I 


IPANY. 


[1843. 


1843.] 


POLICY    OP    HUDSON  S    BAY   COMPANY. 


395 


Iness  in  the  execu- 
by  a  Governor,  a 
ors,  established  at 
ilations  are  devised 
examined  and  con- 
Dloped  in  profound 
overnment  in  writ- 
pressed  in  terms  of 
ibsolutely  required. 
Resident  Governor, 
icipal  posts  ;  under 
,  and  clerks,  for  the 
of  regular  servants, 
nearly  all  of  them 
ese  persons  is  small, 
re  to  perform ;  but 
the  service,  and  the 
as  to  render  their 
iterests  as  great  as 
id  economy  are  cu- 
es ;  and  the  magis- 
•  the  preservation  of 
functions,  except  in 

countries  under  its 
to  have  admirably 

The  prohibition  to 
rs  to  be  rigidly  en- 
3  children  are  estab- 
which  also  contains 
lit  for  those  who  are 
ried  on.  Missiona- 
to  convert  them  to 
usages  of  civilized 
te  of  the  labors  re- 

,  at  great  expense. 
re  the  climate  and 
liar  care  is  extended 
he  offspring  of  tlie 
the  Indian  women, 


e 


who  are  retained,  and  bred  as  far  as  possible  among  the  white  peo- 
ple, and  are  employed,  whenever  they  are  found  capable,  in  the 
service  of  the  company.  As  there  are  few  or  no  white  women  in 
those  territories,  except  in  the  Red  River  settlements,  it  may  be 
easily  seen  that  the  half-breeds  must  in  a  short  time  form  a  large 
and  important  portion  of  the  native  population. 

The  conduct  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  in  these  respects  is 
certainly  worthy  of  commendation.  It  is  however  to  be  observed, 
that  of  the  whole  territory  placed  under  the  authority  of  that  body, 
only  a  few  small  portions  are  capable  of  being  rendered  productive 
by  agriculture.  From  the  remainder  of  the  country,  nothing  of 
value  in  commerce  can  be  obtained  except  furs,  and  those  articles 
can  be  procured  in  greater  quantities  and  at  less  cost,  by  the  labor 
of  the  Indians,  than  by  any  other  means.  There  is,  consequently, 
no  object  in  expelling  or  destroying  the  native  population,  which  can 
never  be  dangerous  from  its  numbers ;  while  on  the  contrary,  there 
is  a  direct  and  evident  motive  of  interest  for  preserving  and  con- 
ciliating them,  and  the  British  certainly  employ  the  best  methods  to 
attain  those  ends.  By  the  system  above  described,  the  natural  shy- 
ness and  distrust  of  the  savages  have  been  in  a  great  measure  re- 
moved ;  the  ties  which  bound  together  the  members  of  the  various 
tribes  have  been  loosened,  and  extensive  combinations  for  any  pur- 
pose have  become  impossible.  The  dependence  of  the  Indians  upon 
the  company  is  at  the  same  time  rendered  entire  and  absolute ;  for 
having  abandoned  the  use  of  all  their  former  arms,  hunting  and 
fishing  implements,  and  clothes,  ihey  can  no  longer  subsist  without 
the  guns,  ammunition,  fish-hooks,  blankets  and  other  similar  arti- 
cles, which  they  receive  only  from  the  British  traders.  The  po/tion 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  towards  the  North-American  Indians, 
is  thus  wholly  different  from  that  held  by  the  East  India  Company 
with  respect  to  the  Chinese ;  the  motives  for  prohibiting  the  intro- 
duction of  spirits  among  the  former  people,  being  as  strong  on  the 
one  part  as  those  for  favoring  the  consumption  of  opium  among  the 
latter  people,  are  on  the  other. 

The  course  observed  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  towards 
American  citizens,  in  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
has  been  equally  unexceptionable,  and  yet  equally  politic.  All  the 
missionaries  and  emigrants  from  the  United  States,  and  indeed  all 
strangers  from  whatsoever  country  they  might  come,  were  received 
at  the  establishments  of  the  company  on  the  Columbia  with  the 


',y. 

'i-i 


,  I" 


■'l,:i'' 


f 


•I  li  i 
4^ 


•.ll<l   ': 


■  n 


^'i 


Ul 


u 


J 


m 


iric  ' !  ;fe 


( 

1 

' 

I' 

1 

i  (  i 

i 

i 

y 

i 

■If 

396 


POLICY  OF  HUDSON  S  BAY  COMPANY. 


[1843. 


utmost  kindness  and  hospitality ;  and  they  were  aided  in  the  prose- 
cution of  their  objects,  —  so  far  and  so  long  as  those  objects  were  not 
commercial.  But  no  sooner  did  any  one,  unconnected  with  the 
company,  attempt  to  hunt,  or  to  trap,  or  to  trade  with  the  natives, 
than  all  the  force  of  the  body  was  immediately  directed  towards 
him.*  There  is  no  evidence  or  well-founded  suspicion,  that  the 
Hudson's  Bay  agents  have  ever  resorted  directly  or  indirectly  to 
violence,  in  order  to  defeat  the  efforts  of  such  rivals.  And,  indeed, 
those  means  would  have  been  superfluous,  whilst  the  company  en- 
joys such  great  advantages  in  its  organization,  its  wealth,  and  the 
minute  knowledge  of  the  country  and  influence  over  the  natives, 
possessed  by  its  agents.  Wherever  an  American  trading  post  has 
been  established,  or  an  American  party  has  been  engaged  in  trade 
on  the  Columbia,  there  appeared  a  Hudson's  Bay  agent,  at  the  head 
of  a  number  of  hunters,  or  with  a  large  stock  of  merchandise  or  a 
large  amount  of  specie  in  hand,  which  were  offered  for  skins  on 
terms  much  more  favorable  to  the  Indians  than  those  possessed 
by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  ;  and  the  latter,  in  consequence, 
landing  their  labors  vain,  were  soon  obliged  to  retire  from  the 
field.  Even  without  employing  such  extraordinary  and  expensive 
means,  the  British  traders,  receiving  their  goods  in  the  Columbia  by 
sea  from  London,  free  from  duty,  can  always  undersell  the  Ameri- 
cans, who  must  transport  their  merchandise  two  thousand  miles 
over  land,  from  the  frontiers  of  the  United  States,  where  the  articles 
best  adapted  for  the  trade  have  previously  boen  subjected  to  an 
import  duty.  In  pursuance  of  the  same  system,  the  company  en- 
deavors, and  generally  with  success,  to  prevent  the  vessels  of  the 
United  States  from  obtaining  cargoes  on  the  north-west  coasts  of 
America ;  though  the  mariners  of  all  nations,  when  thrown  upon 
these  coasts  by  shipwreck  or  by  other  misfortunes,  have  uniformly 
received  shelter  and  protection,  at  its  posts  and  factories. 

The  furs  and  skins  which  have  hitherto  formed  almost  the  whole 
returns  from  the  territories  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  are 
collected  at  the  difterent  posts,  in  part  by  regularly  employed  hunters 
and  trappers,  but  chiefly  by  trade  with  the  Indians  of  the  surround- 
ing country ;  and  they  are  nearly  all  shipped  for  London  in  the 

*  A  worthy  missionary,  now  establishod  on  the  Columbin,  while  acknowledging, 
ill  conversation  with  the  uuihor,  the  many  acts  of  khidness  received  by  him  fiom 
tiie  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  agents,  at  the  same  time  declared  —  that  he  would  not 
buy  a  skin  to  make  a  cap,  without  their  assent. 


1843.] 


DECREASE    OF    FUR-BEARING    ANIMALS. 


397 


company's  vessels  at  Montreal,  or  York  Factory  on  Hudson's  Bay, 
or  Fort  Vancouver  on  the  Columbia ;  the  goods  for  the  trade  and 
the  supply  of  the  posts  being  received  in  the  same  way.  The 
average  annual  value  of  the  furs  thus  exported  for  several  years 
before  1838,  was  estimated  at  about  one  million  of  dollars ;  and 
that  of  the  merchandise  introduced  at  about  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  the  fur-trade  is  declining  in 
every  part  of  these  territories,  from  the  diminution  in  the  numbers 
of  the  animals,  whilst  the  price  of  the  furs  does  not  increase,  in 
consequence  of  the  use  of  other  articles  in  their  place.  The  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  endeavors  to  prevent  this  decrease  of  the  ani- 
mals, particularly  in  the  countries  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  by 
withdrawing  its  hunters  and  traders  from  certain  districts  during 
several  years  in  succession  ;  but  in  Oregon,  where  its  control  is  less 
absolute,  and  its  tenure  loss  secure,  no  i)recautions  of  that  kind  are 
observed,  and  many  of  the  posts  have  been  recently  abandoned,  or 
reduced,  from  want  of  sufficient  business.  How  much  longer  the 
fur-trade  may  be  prosecuted  with  advantage  in  the  Columbia  re- 
gions, it  is  impossible  to  judge  from  the  imperfect  data  as  yet 
afforded ;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  must  ere  long  abandon  tliat  part  of  America,  unless  some 
other  mode  of  employing  its  capital  there,  can  be  adopted. 

With  regard  to  colonization,  it  has  been  already  said  that  a  very 
small  proportion  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  territories  is  capa- 
ble of  being  rendered  productive  by  cdtivation.  The  only  place 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  which  attempts  have  been  made  to 
found  permanent  agricultural  settlements,  is  on  the  Red  River,  be- 
tween the  4J)th  parallel  of  latitude,  there  forming  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  United  States,  and  Lake  Winnipeg,  into  which 
that  river  empties.  Of  the  cession  of  this  country  by  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  to  Lord  Selkirk,  and  the  unfortunate  results  of  his 
first  etl'orts  to  colonize  it,  accounts  have  been  already  given.  New 
efforts,  with  the  same  object,  were  afterwards  made  by  the  son  and 
successor  of  that  nobleman,  with  but  little  success  ;  and  the  territory 
was  at  length,  in  1836,  retro-ceded  to  the  company,  which  has, 
with  much  difficulty  and  expense,  established  on  it  about  six  thou- 
sand persons,  while,  Indian,  and  half-breed,  under  what  conditions 
as  to  tenure  of  the  soil,  is  not  known.  The  land  produces  wheat, 
rye,  potatoes,  hemp  and  some  other  vegetables,  and  grass  for  cattle, 
tolerably  well,  and  it  may  be  considered  fertile,  when  compared  with 


!  / 


,, .  ■:-■! " 
1 1 


[••■•i.  i 


''I  ;:• 


'■!  1  : 


hi 


398 


RED    RIVER   COLONY. 


[1843. 


H'r''^ 


•  s 


it'  >\\  ,     ' 


other  parts  of  the  continent  situated  so  far  north ;  it  is,  however, 
deficient  in  wood,  and  notwithstanding  all  the  advantages  held  out  to 
the  inhabitants  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  there  is  no  proba- 
bility that  it  will  ever  rise  to  importance  in  any  way,  and  least  of 
all,  as  a  check  to  incursions  from  the  United  States,  which  seems 
to  be  one  of  the  principal  objects  proposed  by  its  founders.*  West 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  has  not, 
so  far  as  is  known,  either  formed,  or  encouraged  others  to  form, 
permanent  settlements ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  any  grant  or  sale 
of  lands,  either  immediate  or  prospective,  has  been  made  in  these 
territories,  by  any  British  authority.  Some  of  tlie  retired  servants 
of  the  company  have  indeed  been  allowed  to  remain  in  the  country 
with  their  families,  as  agriculturists ;  but  they  are  in  all  respects 
subject  to  the  company,  and  liable,  at  any  moment,  to  be  expelled 
from  their  homes  by  its  agents. 

As  the  fur  trade  in  the  countries  of  the  Columbia  decreased,  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  began  to  turn  its  attention  to  other  objects. 
Farms  were  laid  out  on  an  extensive  scale,  and  mills  for  grinding 
grain  and  sawing  wood  were  erected  near  the  lower  part  of  the  great 

*  Mr.  Pelly,  the  governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  in  a  hotter  addiessed, 
on  the  10th  of  February,  1S37,  to  Lord  Glencl^',  tlic  British  secretary  for  the  colo- 
nies, says,  with  respect  to  the  Red  River  settlement,  *'  Tliis  rising  community,  if 
well  governed,  may  be  found  useful  at  some  future  period,  in  the  event  of  diflicul- 
ties  occurring  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  of  America,  who  have 
several  military  posts,  say  those  of  the  Sault  Saint  Marie,  Prairie  du  Chien,  and  the 
River  Saint  Peters,  established  on  their  Indian  frontiers,  along  the  line  of  boundary 
with  British  North  America."  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Simpson,  in  his  interesting 
account  of  the  discoveries  made  in  the  northernmost  parts  of  America,  by  himself, 
and  his  unfortunate  companion  Mr.  Dease,  in  1S3S  and  1539,  states  that  the  settlers 
on  the  Red  River,  have  "found  out  the  only  practicable  outlet  for  their  cattle  and 
grain,  in  the  fine  level  plains  leading  to  the  Mississippi  and  the  St.  Peters,  whore 
there  is  the  promise  of  a  suflicient  market  among  the  Americans  ;  "  particularly  as, 
—  "the  bulky  nature  of  the  exports,  [tallow,  flax,  hemp  and  wool]  a  long  and  dan- 
gerous navigation  to  Hudson's  Bay,  and  above  all,  the  roving  and  indolent  habits  of 
the  half  breed  race,  who  form  the  mass  of  the  population,  and  love  the  chase  of  the 
buffalo  better  than  the  drudgery  of  agriculture  or  regular  industry,  seem  to  pre- 
clude the  possibility  of  this  colony  rising  to  importance." 

According  to  Mr.  Simpson,  the  colony,  in  1339,  contained  between  five  and  six 
thousand  persons,  almost  all  Indians  or  half-breeds,  whose  general  character  has 
been  already  given.  The  Scotch,  who  compose  nearly  the  remainder  of  the  popu- 
lation, are  industrious  and  economical,  and  avoid  as  carefully  as  possible  all  amal- 
gamation with  the  others ;  in  order  to  avoid  which,  they  generally  retire  to  the 
United  States,  so  soon  as  they  have  accumulated  a  moderate  amount  of  property 
Four  fifths  of  the  people  are  Roman  Catholics,  for  whose  spiritual  instruction  and 
assistance,  a  bishop  and  three  priests  reside  among  them  ;  the  number  of  Protcstani 
clergymen  was  two. 


»     •  • 


[1843. 

h  ;  it  is,  however, 
antages  held  out  to 
there  is  no  proba- 
way,  and  least  of 
tates,  which  seems 
I  founders.*  West 
Company  has  not, 
ed  others  to  form, 
t  any  grant  or  sale 
oen  made  in  these 
he  retired  servants 
main  in  the  country 
'  are  in  all  respects 
lent,  to  be  expelled 

mbia  decreased,  the 
ion  to  other  objects. 
I  mills  for  grinding 
iver  part  of  the  great 

y,  in  a  letter  addressed, 
;li  secretary  for  the  coin- 
hi3  rising  community,  if 
,  in  the  event  of  dilficul- 
s  of  America,  who  hiivo 
rairie  du  Chien,  and  the 
ong  the  line  of  boundary 
pson,  in  his  interesting 
of  America,  by  himscir, 
,  states  that  the  settlers 
ntlet  for  their  cattle  and 
nd  the  St.  Peters,  whore 
icans  ;  "  particularly  as, 
d  wool]  a  long  and  dan- 
g  and  indolent  habits  of 
nd  love  the  chase  of  the 
industry,  seem  to  pre- 

d  between  five  and  six 
c  general  character  has 

remainder  of  the  popu- 
dly  as  possible  all  anial- 

generally  retire  to  the 
ate  amount  of  property 
spiritual  instruction  and 
;he  number  of  Protcstan; 


1843.J 


PROSPECTS    OF    SETTLERS    IN    OREGON. 


399 


river,  near  Bulfinch's  Harbor,  near  Puget's  Sound,  and  in  other 
places  ;  besides  which,  large  quantities  of  salmon  are  annually  taken 
and  cured.  From  the  use  and  exportation  of  the  articles  thus  pro- 
duced, some  revenue  is  gained ;  but  it  is  evident,  that  capital  in- 
vested in  such  a  manner  cannot  yield  considerable  dividends ;  and 
no  other  modes  for  its  employment  are  offered  at  present  in  these 
territories  or  farther  north.  Oregon  indeed  contains  lands  in  small 
detached  portions,  which  may  afford  to  the  industrious  cultivator  the 
means  of  subsistence,  and  also,  perhaps,  in  time,  of  procuring  some 
foreign  luxuries  ;  but  it  produces  no  precious  metals,  no  opium,  no 
cotton,  no  rice,  no  sugar,  no  coffee  ;  nor  is  it,  like  India,  inhabited 
by  a  numerous  population,  who  may  easily  be  forced  to  labor  for 
the  benefit  of  a  few.  With  regard  to  commerce,  it  offers  no  great 
advantages,  present  or  immediately  prospective.  It  contains  no 
harbor  in  which  articles  of  merchandise  from  other  countries  will, 
probably  at  any  future  period,  be  deposited  for  reexportation  ;  while 
the  extreme  irregularity  of  its  surface,  and  the  obstructions  to  the 
navigation  of  its  rivers,  the  removal  of  which  is  hopeless,  forbid  all 
expectation,  that  the  productions  of  China  or  any  other  land  border- 
ing on  the  Pacific,  will  ever  be  transported  across  Oregon  to  the 
Atlantic  regions  of  the  continent.* 


*  It  will  here  be  proper  to  introduce  some  observations  on  a  subject  which  merits 
consideration  from  its  connection  with  the  interests  and  destinies  of  North-West 
America,  namely  —  the  (piestion  as  to  the  practicability  of  eriecting  a  passage  for 
ships  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific,  through  the  central  parts  of  the  Ameri- 
can continent,  where  those  seas  are  separated  by  narrow  tracts  of  land. 

Humboldt,  in  his  justly-celebrated  essay  on  Mexico,  indicated  nine  places  in 
America,  in  which  the  waters  of  the  two  oceans,  or  of  streams  entering  into  them 
respectively,  are  situated  at  short  distances  apart.  Of  these  places  it  is  necessary 
here  to  notice  but  three,  to  each  of  which,  attention  has  been  strongly  directed,  at 
ditferent  times,  and  especially  of  late  years,  in  the  expectation  that  such  a  naviga- 
ble passage  for  ships  might  be  cllected  through  it.  They  are,  —  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama  —  Nicaragua  —  and  the  Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec. 

With  regard  to  tlie  last  mentioned  of  these  places,  it  has  been  determined,  by 
accurate  surveys,  that  the  mountain  chain,  separating  the  two  oceans,  is  nowhere 
less  than  a  thousand  feet  in  height  above  the  level  of  the  sea ;  and  that  a  canal 
connecting  the  River  Guasecualco,  ilowing  into  the  Mexican  Gulf,  with  the  Pacific, 
must  pass  through  an  open  cut  of  nearly  that  depth,  or  a  tunnel,  in  either  case 
more  than  thirty  miles  in  length,  as  there  is  no  water  on  the  summit  to  supply 
locks,  should  it  be  found  practicable  to  construct  them.  Thus  much  for  the  Isth- 
mus of  Tehuantepec. 

In  Nicaragua,  it  has  been  proposed  to  improve  the  navigation  of  the  San  Juan 
River,  from  its  mouth  on  the  Mosquito  coast,  to  the  great  Lake  of  Nicaragua  from 
which  it  fiows,  or  to  cut  a  canal  from  the  Atlantic  to  that  lake,  whence  another 
canal  should  be  made  to  the  Pacific.    Now,  without  enumerating  the  many  other 


I 


ni 


'.'  I 


^1 


'I! 


,1'r 


m^ 


'  I 


-  ;■■■■  ii 


II 


m 


I 


■  ■«(■■• 


>   \ 


\  ^ 


N't. 


t' 

?     1 

1 

fi 

1 

400 


SHIP    CANAL.    FROM    ATLANTIC    TO    PACIFIC. 


[1843. 


Thus,  on  reviewing  the  agricultural,  commercial,  and  other  eco- 
nomical advantages  and  disadvantages  of  Oregon,  there  appears  to 
be  no  reason,  founded  on  such  considerations,  which  should  render 
either  of  the  powers,  claiming  the  possession  of  that  country,  anx- 
ious to  occupy  it  immediately,  or  unwilling  to  cede  its  own  pre- 
tensions to  the  other,  for  a  very  moderate  compensation.  But 
political  considerations,  among  which  are  always  to  be  reckoned,  as 
the  principal,  those  proceeding  from  national  and  individual  ambi- 
tion, jealousy,  and  hatred,  ever  have  proved,  and  doubtless  will  in  this 

obstacles  to  this  plan,  any  one  of  tliem  sufficient  to  defeat  it,  were  all  things  besides 
favorable,  it  may  be  simply  stated  —  that  one  mile  of  tunnel  and  two  of  very  deep 
cutting  through  volcanic  rocics,  in  addition  to  many  locks,  will  be  required  in  the 
fifteen  miles,  which,  by  the  shortest  and  least  difficult  route,  must  be  passed  be- 
tween the  lake  and  the  Pacific.     Is  such  a  work  practicable  ? 

The  Isthmus  of  Panama  remains  to  be  considered.  From  recent  and  minute 
surveys,  it  has  been  proved  that  no  obstacles  to  a  *hi[)-canal  arc  presented  by  the 
surface  of  this  isthmus,  equal  to  those  which  have  been  surmounted  in  many  in- 
stances  of  a  similar  nature  in  Europe  and  in  the  United  States.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  country  contains  only  a  few  inhabitants  of  the  most  wretched  description,  from 
whose  assistance  in  the  work  no  advantage  in  any  way  could  be  derived ;  so  that 
all  the  laborers,  with  all  th'  -r  clothes,  provisions,  and  tools,  must  be  transported 
thither  from  a  distance.  The  heat  is  at  all  times  intense,  and  the  wet  season  con- 
tinues during  eight  months  of  the  year;  the  rains  in  July,  August,  September,  and 
October,  being  mcessant,  and  heavier,  perhaps,  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world. 
As  to  salubrity,  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  ;  but  it  is  scarcely  possible  that  the 
extremes  of  heat  and  dampness,  which  are  there  combined,  could  be  otherwise  tlian 
■  deleterious  to  persons  from  Europe,  or  from  the  northern  states  of  the  American 
Union,  by  whom  the  labor  of  cutting  a  canal  mc.st  be  performed,  —  unless,  indeed, 
it  should  be  judged  proper  to  employ  negroes  from  the  West  Indies  on  the  work. 

It  seems,  therefore,  that  a  canal  is  practicable  across  the  Isthmus  of  Panamd : 
there  is,  however,  not  the  slightest  probability  that  it  will  be  made  during  this  cen- 
tury, if  ever  ;  the  commercial  utility  of  such  a  communication  being  scarcely  suffi- 
cient to  warrant  the  enormous  expenses  of  its  construction  and  maintenance. 
Ships  from  Europe  or  the  United  States,  bound  for  the  west  coasts  of  America,  or 
the  North  Pacific,  or  China,  would  probably  pass  through  it,  unless  the  tolls  should 
be  too  heavy;  but  in  yoturntHg  thay  would  pursue  the  route  around  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope,  which  would  be  shorter,  and  in  all  respects  more  advantageous  for 
them,  as  well  as  for  all  vessels  sailing,  in  either  direction,  between  the  Atlantic 
coasts  and  India  or  Australia.  Should  the  canal  ever  be  made  by  any  company  or 
nation  whatsoever,  it  will,  in  time,  notwithstanding  any  precautions  by  treaty  or 
otherwise,  become  the  property  of  the  greatest  naval  power,  which  toill  derive  a  vast 
increase  of  political  strength  from  the  possession. 

The  Isthmu"  of  Tehuantepec  offers  many  advantages  for  travellers,  and  even  for 
the  transportation  of  precious  commodities,  especially  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  The  mouth  of  the  Guasecualco  River,  on  its  northern  shore,  is  less  than 
seven  hundred  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  andoidy  one  hundred  miles 
by  the  road  from  a  port  on  the  Pacific,  near  Tehuantepec,  which  might  be  made  a 
good  harbor  ;  so  that  even  now  a  traveller  might  go  in  a  fortnight  from  Washing- 
ton to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  thence,  by  a  steam-vessel,  in  ten  days  more,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  or  to  the  Sandwich  Islands. 


1844.] 


GENERAL    RKVIEW. 


401 


case  prove  paramount  to  the  others.  It  is  the  unobjectionable,  and 
indeed  imperative  policy  of  the  United  States,  to  secure  the  posses- 
sion of  those  territories,  in  order  to  provide  places  of  resort  and 
refreshment  for  their  numerous  vessels,  engaged  in  the  trade  and 
fishery  of  the  Pacific,  particularly  as  there  is  a  prospect  that  they 
may  in  time  be  excluded  from  the  Sandwich  Islands  ;  and  also  to 
prevent  those  territories  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  any  other 
power,  which  might  direct  against  their  western  frontiers  the  hordes 
of  Indians  roving  through  the  middle  and  westernmost  divisions  of 
the  continents.  Great  Britain,  on  the  other  hand,  can  have  no 
motive  for  opposing  the  occupation  of  Oregon  by  the  United  States, 
except  that  of  checking  their  advancement,  by  excluding  their  ves- 
sels from  the  Pacific,  and  by  maintaining  an  influence  deleterious 
to  their  interests  and  safety,  over  the  savages  in  their  vicinity. 
That  the  latter  nation  should,  within  any  period  which  it  is  now 
possible  to  foresee,  furnish  a  population  to  the  regions  in  question, 
there  are  certainly  at  present  no  grounds  for  supposing.  Her  prov- 
inces in  America  have  no  redundance  of  inhabitants ;  and  what 
inducements  can  be  offered  in  good  faith  to  her  subjects  in  Europe, 
for  undertaking  a  voyage  of  six  months  to  the  Columbia,  or  a  voyage 
to  Canada  and  a  subsequent  journey  of  five  thousand  miles  through 
her  wild  and  frozen  Indian  territories,  so  long  as  the  West  Indies, 
Southern  Africa,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  and,  lastly  —  the  Uni- 
ted States  —  are  open  to  them  ?  The  difficulties  experienced  by 
American  citizens  in  their  passage  to  Oregon,  along  the  valleys  of 
the  Platte  and  the  Lewis,  great  though  they  may  be  at  present,  sink 
into  insignificance,  when  compared  with  those  which  British  sub- 
jects must  encounter,  in  proceeding  to  that  country,  by  either  of  the 
routes  above  indicated  :  and  the  contrast  becomes  still  stronger, 
when  we  compare  the  character  and  habits  of  Americans,  trained 
from  their  childhood  to  struggle  and  provide  against  the  hardships 
and  privations  incident  to  the  settlement  of  a  new  country,  with 
those  of  Europeans,  accustomed  only  to  a  routine  of  labor  the  most 
simple,  and  the  least  calculated  to  nourish  energies  or  to  stimulate 
invention. 


The  history  of  the  western  section  of  America,  has  now  been 
concluded.     Accounts  have  been  presented  of  all  the  expeditions, 
discoveries,  settlements  and  other  events  worthy  of  record,  in  that 
51 


Vr-  - 

|.'  .I'l 

f 
•  ••I-! 


:;l<l 


I  •' 


HI 


^,< 


«f  - 


m  fi 


lf;i>^ 


*.        1 

«  j1  I 


IV.  '  3 


402 


CONCLUSION. 


[1844. 


part  of  the  world  ;  and  of  all  the  claims,  and  pretensions  advanced 
by  civilized  nations,  and  all  the  discussions,  negotiations  and  con- 
ventions between  them  with  regard  to  it.  Of  these  international 
questions,  the  only  serious  one  remaining  undetermined,  is  that 
between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  the  subject  of  which 
is  no  less  than  the  right  of  possessing  the  vast  territories  of  the 
Columbia,  commonly  called  the  Oregon  region.  Concerning  this 
question,  it  has  been  shown  —  that  the  United  States  asserted  that 
right  against  Great  Britain  in  1815,  as  founded  on  the  discoveries 
and  settlements  of  their  citizens,  prior  to  any  made  by  the  other 
party;  and  that  having,  in  1819,  obtained  by  the  Florida  treaty, 
all  the  titles  of  Spain  to  those  countries,  their  government  has  ever 
since  claimed  the  entire  and  exclusive  sovereignty  over  them,  though 
it  has  more  than  once  offered,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  to  surrender  to 
Great  Britain,  all  north  of  the  forty-ninth  parallel  of  latitude.  It 
has  also  been  shown,  that  Great  Britain  Hrst  claimed  the  entire 
sovereignty  of  the  Columbia  territories,  on  the  ground  of  their  hav- 
ing been  early  taken  possession  of,  and  ever  since  considered  as 
part  of  the  British  dominions,  and  then  of  settlements  made  in 
them  by  her  subjects,  coeval  with,  if  not  prior  to,  any  made  by 
American  citizens  ;  after  all  which  direct  and  positive  assertions  of 
absolute  right,  it  was  finally,  in  1826,  declared  by  that  power  in  her 
ultimatum,  —  that  she  claimed  no  exclusive  sovereignty  over  any 
portion  of  those  territories,  and  that  her  pretensions  with  regard  to 
them,  were  limited  to  a  right  of  joint  occupancy  of  the  whole,  in 
common  with  other  states,  agreeably  to  the  Nootka  convention  of 
1790,  between  her  and  Spain,  leaving  the  right  of  sovereignty  in 
abeyance.  The  grounds  of  all  these  conflicting  claims,  the  nature 
and  duration  of  the  Nootka  convention,  and  the  extent  and  charac- 
ter of  the  provisions  of  the  convention  of  1827,  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States,  agreeably  to  which  the  part  of  Amer- 
ica in  question,  has  remained  to  this  day  free  and  open  to  the  citi- 
zens and  subjects  of  both  nations,  have  been  examined  and  reviewed 
so  fully  in  the  preceding  pages,  that  farther  particulars  with  regard 
to  them  are  unnecessary. 

The  period  during  which  the  right  of  dominion  over  the  Oregon 
regions,  might  remain  in  abeyance,  is  now  drawing  to  a  close.  Under 
the  existing  convention.  Great  Britain  has  enjoyed  almost  all  the 
advantages  which  she  could  have  derived  from  those  countries  in 
any  case ;  the  United  States  have,  how'over,  secured  the  continuance 


1844.] 


....'* 


CONCLUSION. 


403 


of  their  title  unimpaired  ;  that  they  did  not  obtain  farther  benefits 
from  the  arrangement,  has  been  in  a  great  measure  due  to  them- 
selves, or  rather  to  the  consideration  that  they  could  direct  their 
efforts  more  profitably  elsewhere.  This  state  of  things  can,  however, 
no  longer  continue.  American  citizens,  relying  on  the  justice  of  the 
claims  of  their  republic  to  the  countries  of  the  Columbia,  are  remov- 
ing thither  in  great  numbers ;  and  it  becomes  the  duty  of  their  govern- 
ment, which  has  always  asserted  and  supported  those  claims,  to 
provide  for  their  protection  and  secure  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  their 
labor,  by  measures  entirely  incompatible  with  the  stipulations  of  the 
subsisting  convention.  With  this  view.  Great  Britain  has  been  again 
invited  to  a  negotiation,  for  the  settlement  of  the  questions  of  terri- 
torial right,  already  so  often  and  so  vainly  discussed  ;  the  invitation 
has  been  accepted,  and  the  Hon.  Richard  Pakenham  has  arrived 
at  Washington,  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary  from  that  government, 
provided — as  there  is  reason  to  believe  —  with  instructions  to  treat 
for  a  definitive  partition  of  the  countries  to  which  these  questions 
relate. 

It  is  scarcely  within  the  province  of  the  historian  to  anticipate,  or 
at  least  to  carry  his  speculations  farther  than  the  immediate  conse- 
quences of  events  which  have  already  occurred.  It  appears,  how- 
ever, to  be  certain,  that  under  all  or  any  succeeding  circumstances, 
whether  of  peaceful  partition  of  the  countries  in  disp"te,  or  —  the 
only  other  probable  alternative  —  of  war  between  the  two  claimant 
powers,  those  countries  will  receive  their  population  from  the  United 
States.  Nearly  a  thousand  citizens  of  the  federal  republic  —  a 
number  far  greater  than  that  of  the  first  settlers  in  Virginia  or  in 
New  England  —  have  within  a  few  months  entered  Oregon  ;  and  an 
equal  number  will  soon  follow,  with  the  determination  to  make  it 
their  home.  Many  of  them  will,  doubtless,  like  all  other  emigrants 
to  new  countries,  repent  of  having  engaged  in  such  an  enterprise  ; 
and  some  will  probably  return,  to  seek  a  more  agreeable  abiding- 
place  in  the  regions  of  the  east :  but  the  great  majority  will  remain 
beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  they  and  their  descendants  will 
spread  northward  and  southward  from  the  Columbia  so  far  as  soil 
and  climate  may  invite. 


I-' I    ! 


'!     I 


1     .,; 

i  i : 


END    OF    THE    HISTOttY. 


, '  I* 
-      '  '.     Lit  S.   i 


cm 


♦    ';;) 


^ 


PROOFS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS, 


'  m 


i 

:■ 

H' 

t  '   . 

"i 

If 

'  ■'  Vi- 1 

i.:  r.< 

1 

^1 

mil 


ii ) 


ii;li 


mi 


'i  ■  \ 


PROOFS  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


A. 


<  i- 


Original  Account  of  thr  Voyage  of  the  Greek  Pilot  Juan 

DE    FUCA     along    the     ^10RTH-WEST    CoASTS     OF    AmERICA,    IN 

1592. 

A  Note  made  by  me.,  Michael  Lock  the  elder,  t inching  the  Strait  of  Sea 
commonly  called  Fretum  Anian,  in  the  South  Sea,  through  the  North- 
West  Passage  of  Meta  Incognita.* 

When  I  was  at  Venice,  in  April,  1596,  haply  arrived  there  an 
old  man,  about  sixty  years  of  age,  called,  commonly,  Juan  de  Fuca,  but 
named  properly  Apostolos  Valcrianus,  of  nation  f  Greek,  born  in  Cepha- 
lonia,  of  profession  a  mariner,  and  an  ancient  pilot  of  ships.  This  man, 
beiiiij  come  lately  out  of  Spain,  arrived  first  at  Lrghnrn,  and  went  thence 
to  Flonnce,  where  he  found  one  John  Douglas,  an  Englishman,  a  famous 
mariner,  ready  coming  for  Venice,  to  be  pilot  of  a  Venetian  ship  for 
Eiiirland,  in  whose  company  they  came  both  together  to  Venice.  And 
John  Douglas  being  acquainted  with  me  before,  he  g.ive  me  knowledge 
of  this  Greek  pilot,  and  brought  him  to  my  speech;  and,  in  long  talks 
and  conference  between  us,  in  presence  of  John  Douglas,  this  Greek 
pilot  declared,  in  the  Italian  and  Spanish  languages,  thus  much  in  effect 
as  followeth :  — 

First,  he  said  that  he  had  been  in  the  West  Indies  of  Spain  forty 
years,  and  had  sailed  to  and  from  many  places  thereof,  in  the  service  of 
the  Spaniards. 

Also,  he  said  that  he  was  in  the  Spanish  ship  which,  in  returning 
from  the  Islands  Philippinas,  towards  Nova  Spania,  was  robbed  and 
taken  at  the  Cape  California  by  Captain  Cnndish,  Englishman,  whereby 
he  lost  sixty  thousand  ducats  of  his  own  goods. 

Also,  he  said  that  he  was  pilot  of  three  small  ships  which  the  viceroy 
of  Mexico  sent  from  Mexico,  armed  with  one  hundred  men,  under  a  cap- 
tain, Spaniards,  to  discover  the  Straits  of  Anian,  along  the  coast  of  the 
South  Sea,  and  to  fortify  in  that  strait,  to  resist  the  passage  and  proceed- 
ings of  the  English  nation,  which  were   feared  to  pass  through  those 

•  Extracted  from  the  Pilgrims  of  Samuel  Purchas,  vol.  iii.  p.  849.  The  orthogra- 
phy of  the  English  is  modernized.  The  letters  inserted  are,  however,  given  in  their 
original  lingua  Franca.    See  p.  87  of  the  History. 


■'♦'♦, 


-(     !' 


.1i! 


;^> 


t 


U" 


408 


PROOFS    AND    ILLIJSTKATIONS. 


[A. 


straits  into  the  South  Sea ;  and  that,  by  reason  of  a  mutiny  which  hap- 
pened  among  the  soldiers  for  the  misconduct  of  their  captain,  that  voyage 
Wiis  overthrown,  and  the  sliip  returned  from  California  to  Nova  Spania, 
without  any  thing  done  in  that  voyage ;  and  that,  after  their  return,  the 
captain  was  at  Mexico  punished  by  justice. 

Also,  he  said  that,  shortly  after  the  said  voyage  was  so  ill  ended,  the 
said  viceroy  of  Mcnco  sent  him  out  again,  in  1592,  with  a  small  caravel 
and  a  piimace,  armed  with  mariners  only,  to  follow  the  said  voyage  for 
the  discovery  of  the  Straits  of  Anion ,  and  the  passage  thereof  into  the 
sea,  which  they  call  the  North  Sea,  which  is  our  north-west  sea ;  and  that 
he  followed  his  course,  in  that  voyage,  west  and  north-west  in  the  South 
Sea,  all  along  the  coast  of  Nova  Spania,  and  California,  and  the  luriics, 
now  called  North  America,  (all  which  voyage  he  signified  to  me  in  a  great 
map,  and  a  sea  card  of  mine  own,  which  I  laid  before  him,)  until  he  came 
to  the  latitude  of  47  degrees ;  and  that,  there  finding  that  the  land  trended 
north  and  north-east,  with  a  broad  inlet  of  sea,  between  47  and  48  degrees 
of  latitude,  he  entered  thereinto,  sailing  therein  more  than  twenty  days, 
and  found  that  land  trending  still  sometime  north-west,  and  north-east,  and 
north,  and  also  cast  and  south-eastward,  and  very  much  broader  sea  than 
was  at  the  said  entrance,  and  that  he  passed  by  divers  islands  in  that  sail- 
ing ;  and  that,  at  the  entrance  of  this  said  strait,  there  is,  on  the  north- 
west coast  thereof,  a  great  headland  or  island,  with  an  exceeding  high 
pinnacle,  or  spired  rock,  like  a  pillar,  thereupon. 

Also,  he  said  that  he  went  on  land  in  divers  places,  and  that  he  saw 
some  people  on  land  clad  in  beasts'  skins ;  and  that  the  land  is  very  fruit- 
ful, and  rich  of  gold,  silver,  pearls,  and  other  things,  like  NotJa  Spania. 

And  also,  he  said  that  he  being  entered  thus  far  into  the  said  strait, 
and  being  come  into  the  North  Sea  already,  and  finding  the  sea  wide 
enough  every  where,  and  to  be  about  thirty  or  forty  leagues  wide  in  the 
mouth  of  the  straits  where  he  entered,  he  thought  he  had  now  well  dis- 
charged his  office ;  and  that,  not  being  armed  to  resist  the  force  of  the 
savage  people  that  might  happen,  he  therefore  set  sail,  and  returned  home- 
wards again  towards  Nova  Spania,  where  he  arrived  at  Acapulco,  anno 
1592,  hoping  to  be  rewarded  by  the  viceroy  for  this  service  done  in  the 
said  voyage. 

Also,  he  said  that,  after  coming  to  Mexico,  he  was  greatly  welcomed 
by  the  viceroy,  and  had  promises  of  great  reward ;  but  that,  having  sued 
there  two  years,  and  obtained  nothing  to  his  content,  the  viceroy  told  him 
that  he  should  be  rewarded  in  Spain,  of  the  king  himself,  very  greatly, 
and  willed  him,  therefore,  to  go  to  Spain,  which  voyage  he  did  perform. 

Also,  he  said  .that,  when  he  was  come  into  Spain,  he  was  welcomed 
there  at  the  king's  court ;  but,  after  long  suit  there,  also,  he  could  not  get 
any  reward  there  to  his  content;  and  therefore,  at  length,  he  stole  away 
out  of  Spain,  and  came  into  Italy,  to  go  home  again  and  live  among  his 
own  kindred  and  countrymen,  he  being  very  old. 

Also,  he  said  that  he  thought  the  cause  of  his  ill  reward  had  of  the 
Spaniards,  to  be  for  that  they  did  understand  very  well  that  the  English 
nation  had  now  given  over  all  their  voyages  for  discovery  of  the  north- 
west passage ;  wherefore  they  need  not  fear  them  any  more  to  come  that 
way  into  the  South  Sea,  and  therefore  they  needed  not  his  service  therein 
any  more. 

Also,  he  said  that,  understanding  the   noble  mind  of  the  queen  of 


[A. 

mutiny  which  hap- 
;aptain,  that  voyage 
a  to  Nova  Spania, 
it  their  return,  the 

IS  so  ill  ended,  the 
vith  a  small  caravel 
he  said  voyage  for 
^e  thereof  into  the 
-west  sea ;  and  that 
i-vvest  in  the  South 
lia,  and  the  Indm, 
ied  to  me  in  a  great 
him,)  until  he  came 
^lat  the  land  trended 
1  47  and  48  degrees 
J  than  twenty  days, 
,  and  north-east,  and 
!h  broader  sea  than 

>  islands  in  that  sail- 
re  is,  on  the  north- 

an  exceeding  high 

;s,  and  that  he  saw 
lie  land  is  very  fruit- 
;,  like  Noim  Spania. 
into  the  said  strait, 
nding  the  sea  wide 
leagues  wide  in  the 

>  had  now  well  dis- 
ist  the  force  of  the 

and  returned  home- 
at  Acapulco,  anno 
service  done  in  the 

IS  greatly  welcomed 
It  that,  having  sued 
the  viceroy  told  him 

mself,  very  greatly, 
age  he  did  perform, 
he  was  welcomed 
so,  he  could  not  get 
ngth,  he  stole  away 

nd  live  among  his 

reward  had  of  the 
;11  that  the  English 
overy  of  the  north- 
more  to  come  that 

his  service  therein 

d  of  the  queen  of 


1 


A.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


409 


England,  and  of  her  wars  against  the  Spaniards,  and  hoping  that  her 
majesty  would  do  him  justice  for  his  goods  lost  by  Captain  Candish,  he 
would  be  content  to  go  into  England,  and  serve  her  majesty  in  that  voyage 
for  the  discovery  perfectly  of  the  north-west  passage  into  the  South  Sea, 
if  she  would  furnish  him  with  only  one  ship  of  forty  tons'  burden,  and  a 
pinnace,  and  that  he  would  perform  it  in  thirty  days'  time,  from  one  end 
to  the  other  of  the  strait ;  and  he  willed  me  so  to  write  to  England. 

And,  upon  conference  had  twice  with  the  said  Greek  pilot,  I  did  write 
thereof,  accordingly,  to  England,  unto  the  right  honorable  the  old  Lord 
Treasurer  Cecil,  and  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  to  Master  Richard  Hak- 
luyt,  that  famous  cosinographer,  certifying  them  hereof.  And  I  prayed 
them  to  disburse  one  hundred  pounds,  to  bring  the  said  Greek  pilot  into 
England  with  myself,  for  that  my  own  purse  would  not  stretch  so  wide  at 
that  time.  And  I  had  answer  that  this  action  was  well  liked  and  greatly 
desired  in  England ;  but  the  money  was  not  ready,  and  therefore  this 
action  died  at  that  time,  though  the  said  Greek  pilot,  perchance,  liveth 
still  in  his  own  country,  in  Crphalonia,  towards  which  place  he  went 
within  a  fortnight  after  this  conference  had  at  Venice. 

And,  in  the  mean  time,  while  I  followed  my  own  business  in  Venice, 
being  in  a  lawsuit  .against  the  Company  of  Merchants  of  Turkey,  to  re- 
cover my  pension  due  for  being  their  consul  at  Aleppo,  which  they  held 
from  me  wrongfully,  and  when  I  was  in  readiness  to  return  to  England, 
I  thought  I  should  be  able  of  my  own  purse  to  take  with  me  the  said 
Greek  pilot ;  and  therefore  I  wrote  unto  him  from  Venice  a  letter,  dated 
July,  1596,  which  is  copied  here  under :  — 

*  "  Al  Mag"-  Sig"'  Capitan  Juan  de  Fuca,  Piloto  de  India,  amigo  mio 

char'""-  en  Zefalonia. 

"  MuY  HONRADO  SeNNOR, 

"  Siendo  yo  para  buelvcrme  en  Inglatierra  dentre  de  pocas 
mezes,  y  accuerdandome  de  lo  trattado  entre  my  y  V.  M.  en  Venesia 
sobre  el  viagio  de  las  Indias,  me  ha  parescido  bien  de  scrivir  esta  carta 
a  V.  M.  para  que  se  tengais  animo  de  andar  con  migo,  puedais  escribirme 
presto  en  que  maniera  quereis  consertaros.  Y  puedais  embiarmi  vuestra 
carta  con  esta  nao  Ingles,  que  sta  al  Zante  (sino  hallais  otra  coiuntura 
meior)  con  el  sobrescritto  que  diga  en  casa  del  Sennor  Eleazar  Hyc- 
man,  mercader  Ingles,  al  tragetto  de  San  Tomas  en  Venisia.  Y  Dios 
guarde  la  persona  de  V.  M.  Fecha  en  Venesia  al  primer  dia  de  Julio, 
1596  annos. 


"  Amigo  de  V.  M., 


■'  Michael  Lock,  Ingles." 


•  To  the  Magnificent  Captain  Juan  de  Fuca,  Pilot  of  the  Indies,  my  most  dear  friend 

in  Cophalonia. 
Most  Honored  Sir, 

Being  about  to  return  lo  England  in  a  few  months,  and  recollecting  what 
passed  between  you  and  myself,  at  Venice,  respecting  the  voyage  lo  the  Indies,  I 
nave  thought  proper  to  write  you  this  letter,  so  that,  if  you  have  a  mind  to  go  with 
me,  you  can  write  n>e  word  directly  how  you  wisii  to  arrange.  You  may  send  me  your 
letter  by  this  English  vessel,  which  is  at  Zante,  (if  you  should  find  no  better  op- 
portunity,) directed  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Eleazer  llyckman,  an  Engmii  merchant,  St 
Thomas  Street,  Venice.     God  preserve  you,  sir. 

Your  friend, 

Michael  Lock,  of  England. 
Venice,  ,Tuhj  l.«/,  lJi96.        55 


.#■! 


:y\> 


'I  i 


i't'        ■■  '  :  ■  I 


■^yi.i 


410 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[A. 


;  f'l 


I 


!i 


W- 


It 


And  I  sent  the  said  letter  from  Venice  to  Zante  in  the  ship  Cherubin; 
and,  shortly  after,  I  sent  a  copy  thereof  in  the  ship  Minion,  and  also  a 
third  copy  thereof  by  Manea  Orlando,  patron  de  nave  Venetian.  And  unto 
my  said  letters  he  wrote  me  answer  to  Venice  by  one  letter,  which  came 
not  to  my  hands,  and  also  by  another  letter,  which  came  to  my  hands, 
which  is  copied  here  under  :  — 

*  "  Al  111"'"*  Sig"'-  INIichael  Lock,  Ingles,  in  casa  del  Sig°'-  Lasaro,  merca- 
der  Ingles,  al  tragetto  de  San  Tonias  en  Venesia. 

"  MuY  Illustre  Sig""-,  ■ 

"  La  carta  de  V.  M.  recevi  a  20  dias  del  mese  di  Sottcmbre, 
por  loqual  veo  loche  V.  M.  nie  manda.  lotengho  aniino  de  coinplir  loclie 
tengo  promettido  a  V,  M.  y  no  solo  yo,  mas  tengo  vinte  hoinbres  p;ira 
lievar  con  niigo,  porche  son  liombres  vagiientes;  y  assi  estoi  esperando 
por  otra  carta  che  aviso  ji  V.  M.  parache  me  embiais  los  dinieros  die  tengo 
escritto  a  V.  M.  Porche  bien  save  V.  M.  como  io  vine  pover,  porqiie  nie 
glievo  Ciiptain  Candis  mas  de  sessenta  mille  ducados,  como  V.  M.  bien 
save ;  embiandome  lo  dicho,  ire  a  servir  a  V.  M.  con  todos  mis  com- 
pagneros.  I  no  spero  otra  cosa  mas  de  la  voluntad  e  carta  de  V.  M.  con 
tanto  nostro  Sig"  Dios  guarda  la  illustre  persona  de  V.  M.  muchos  annos. 
De  Ceifalonia  a  24  de  Settembre  del  I59<). 

"  Amigo  y  servitor  de  V.  M., 

"  Juan  Flca." 

And  the  said  letter  came  into  my  hands  in  Venice,  the  lOth  day  of 
November,  159G;  but  my  lawsuit  with  the  Company  of  Turkey  was  not 
ended,  by  reason  of  Sir  John  Spenser's  suit,  made  in  England,  at  the 
queen's  court,  to  the  contrary,  seeking  only  to  have  his  money  discharuod 
which  I  had  attached  in  Venice  for  my  said  pension,  and  thereby  my  ouii 
purse  was  not  yet  ready  for  the  Greek  pilot. 

And,  nevertheless,  hoping  that  my  said  suit  would  have  shortly  a  irood 
end,  I  wrote  another  letter  to  this  Greek  pilot  from  Venice,  dated  the  •^Oth 
of  November,  1596,  which  came  not  to  his  hands,  and  also  another  letter, 
dated  the  24th  of  January,  1590,  which  came  to  his  hands.  And  thereof 
he  wrote  me  answer,  dated  the  28th  of  May,  1597,  which  I  received  the 
1st  of  August,  1597,  by  Thomas  Norden,  an  English  merchant,  yet  living 
in  London,  wherein  he  promised  still  to  go  with  me  unto  England,  to 
perform  the  said  voyage  for  discovery  of  the  north-west  passage  into  the 
South  Sea,  if  I  would  send  hitn  money  for  his  charges,  according  to  his 


■h 


i      •  I  I 


,( 


i ) 


*  To  the  Illustrious  Miehnol  Lock,  Ensrlishman,  at  the  honso  of  Mr.  Lazaro,  English 
lui-rchant,  in  St.  Thomas  Strui-t,  Venice. 

Most  Ilm'strious  Sir, 

Your  letter  was  received  by  mo  on  the  2flth  of  September,  by  which  I 
am  informed  of  what  you  communicate.  1  have  a  mind  to  comply  with  my  promise 
to  you,  and  have  not  only  myself,  but  twenty  men,  brave  men,  too,  whom  I  can 
carry  with  me ;  so  [  am  waiting  for  an  answer  to  another  letter  which  I  wrote  you, 
about  the  money  which  I  asked  you  to  send  me.  For  you  know  well,  sir,  how  I  be- 
came poor  in  consequence  of  Captain  Candish's  havinjr  taken  from  me  more  than 
sixty  thousand  ducats,  as  you  well  know.  If  you  will  send  me  what  1  asked,  I  will 
go  with  you,  as  well  as  all  my  companions.  I  ask  no  more  from  your  kindness,  as 
shown  by  your  letter.     God  preserve  you,  most  illustrious  sir,  for  many  years. 

Your  friend  and  servant, 

Juan  Fuca. 
Ct,rHALotii A,  September  2Athf  1596. 


[A. 

1  the  ship  Cherubin ; 

Minion,  and  also  a 
k^enetian.  And  unto 
)  letter,  which  came 

came  to  my  hands, 


Sig"-  Lasaro,  merca- 
Venesia. 

I  mese  di  Settcmbre, 
imo  de  coinplir  loclie 
vinte  hombros  p;ira 
assi  estoi  esperando 
OS  dinicros  cbe  tengo 
ine  pover,  porqiie  me 
los,  conio  V.  M.  bien 
con  todos  mis  corn- 
'.  carta  do  V.  M.  con 
V.  M.  nuichos  aniios. 

or  de  V.  M., 
"  Jt.v.v  Flca." 

ice,  the   Ifith  day  of 

y  of  Turkey  was  not 

in  En^bind,  at  the 

lis  money  dischar;j!;cd 

and  thereby  my  own 

have  shortly  a  jjooci 
enice,  dated  the  "Jdth 
id  also  another  letter, 
lands.  And  thereof 
ivhich  I  received  the 

merchant,  yet  liviiiij 
ne  unto  England,  to 
est  passage  into  the 
;es,  according  to  his 

of  Mr.  Lazaro,  English 


Soptomber,  by  which  I 

miply  with  my  promise 

men,  too,   whom  I  can 

ttcr  wliifii  I  wrote  you, 

now  wfll,  sir,  liow  1  be- 

n  from  mo  iiiorp  tiian 

no  what  I  askod,  1  will 

from  your  kindness,  as 

,  for  many  years. 

and  servant, 

Juan  Fuca. 


B.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


411 


^*i 


former  writing,  without  which  money  he  said  he  could  not  go,  for  that  as 
he  was  undone  utterly  when  he  was  in  the  ship  Santa  Anna,  which  came 
from  China,  and  was  robbed  at  California.  And  yet  again,  afterward,  I 
wrote  him  another  letter  from  Venice,  whereunto  he  wrote  me  answer  by 
a  letter  written  in  his  Greek  language,  dated  the  '20th  of  October,  1598, 
the  which  1  have  still  by  me,  wherein  he  promiseth  still  to  go  with  me 
into  England,  and  perform  the  said  voyage  of  discovery  of  the  north-west 
passage  into  the  South  Sea  by  the  said  straits,  which  he  calleth  the  Strait 
of  Nova  Spania,  which  he  saith  is  but  thirty  days'  voyage  in  the  straits,  if 
I  will  send  him  the  money  formerly  written  for  his  charges ;  the  which 
money  I  could  not  yet  send  him,  for  that  I  had  not  yet  recovered  my  pen- 
sion owing  me  by  the  Company  of  Turkey  aforesaid;  and  so,  of  long  time, 
I  stayed  any  further  proceeding  with  him  in  this  matter. 

And  yet,  lastly,  when  I  myself  was  at  Zante,  in  the  month  of  June, 
IGU'i,  minding  to  pass  from  thence  for  England  by  sea,  for  that  I  had  then 
recovered  a  little  money  from  the  Company  of  Turkey,  by  an  order  of  the 
lords  of  the  Privy  Council  of  England,  I  wrote  another  letter  to  this  Greek 
pilot,  to  Cephalonia,  and  required  him  to  come  to  me  to  Zante,  and  go 
with  me  into  England,  but  1  had  no  answer  thereof  from  him ;  for  that, 
as  1  heard  afterward  at  Zante,  he  was  then  dea<l,  or  very  likely  to  die  of 
great  sickness.  Whereupon,  I  returned  myself,  by  sea,  from  Zante  to 
Venice,  and  from  thence  I  went,  by  land,  througli  France,  into  England, 
where  1  arrived  at  Christmas,  anno  1002,  safely,  1  thank  God,  after  my 
absence  from  thence  ten  years'  time,  with  great  troubles  had  for  the  Com- 
pany of  Turkey's  business,  which  hath  cost  me  a  great  sum  of  money, 
for  the  which  I  avr  du   yet  satisfied  of  them. 


B. 


Furs  and  the  Fur  Tr.\de. 

FrR,  strictly  speaking,  is  the  soft,  fine  hair  which  forms  the  natural 
clothing  of  certain  animals,  j)articularly  of  those  inhabiting  cold  countries. 
In  commerce,  however,  the  word  is  understood  to  mean  the  skin  of  the 
animal,  with  the  hair  .ittached,  either  before  or  after,  but  generally  after, 
it  has  been  rendered  soft  and  pliable,  by  a  peculiar  process,  called  drcss- 
iii^r.  The  undressed  skins  are  commonly  called  prltry :  but  /"«»•  and 
prifn/  are  employed  as  synonymous  terms;  and  the  word  fur,  in  com- 
merce, is  generally  to  be  understood  as  peltri/.  The  skins  of  .seals,  bears, 
wolves,  lions,  leopards,  buffaloes,  &,c.,  are  also  placed  under  the  denomi- 
nation of  /'wr.s-,  in  connnerce. 

Skins  nuist  have  formed  the  first  clothing  of  man  in  cold  cotmtries ; 
and,  at  the  present  day,  they  constitute  the  whole  or  the  greater  part  of 
the  dress  of  many  millions  of  individuals.  For  this  purpose,  the  skin, 
with  or  without  the  fur,  is  employed  as  cloth  would  be ;  or  the  fur  alone 
is  converted  by  art  into  the  peculiar  substance  called  felt,  of  which  hats 
are  made. 


Kj  Ij-J   ■ 


¥ 


>  :    i 


:    ; 

1 

1  , 

'1  ■.( 


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413 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[B. 


Furs  differ  in  value,  according  to  the  fineness,  the  length,  the  thick- 
ness, and  tile  color,  of  their  hair.  The  most  precious  is  thnt  of  the 
ermine,  a  species  of  weasel ;  it  is  thick,  soft,  fine,  and  of  dazzling  white- 
ness, except  the  tip  of  the  tail,  which  is  of  a  glossy  black  color,  and  is 
used  to  form  spots  on  the  skin.  Of  great  value,  also,  are  the  skins  of  the 
marten,  the  sable,  the  fiery  fox,  the  silver  fox,  and  the  black  fox ;  after 
which  come  those  of  the  sea  otter,  the  beaver,  the  seal,  and  —  though  far 
inferior  to  the  others  —  of  the  muskrat,  the  raccoon,  the  fox,  the  weasel, 
di-c.  Of  these,  the  ermine  is,  as  before  said,  the  most  precious;  the 
muskrat  is  that  of  which  the  greatest  quantity  is  collected ;  while  the 
aggregate  value  of  the  beaver  skins  annually  consumed  among  civilized 
nations  is  greater  than  that  of  all  the  other  furs  together. 

The  finer  furs  are  principally  used  in  Russia,  Turkey,  and  China,  — 
in  the  latter  country  especially,  where  they  form  important  portions  of  the 
dress  of  every  rich,  noble,  or  ostentatious  person.  In  Europe,  and  in  the 
United  States,  furs  are  also  much  worn  in  the  shape  of  caps,  nrnffs,  and 
trimmings.  The  greatest  consumption  of  the  inferior  furs  is  in  the  man- 
ufacture  of  hats,  which  is  of  comparatively  modern  date,  and,  as  well  us 
the  use  of  those  articles,  is  confined  almost  entirely  to  Europe  and 
America.  The  furs  mostly  used  for  this  purpose  are  those  of  the  beaver, 
the  otter,  the  nutria,  (an  animal  resembling  the  beaver,  found  in  Patago- 
nia,)  and  the  muskrat;  but  thr  greater  number  of  hats  are  composed 
chiefly  of  wool,  with  or  without  a  slight  covering  of  fur. 

Nearly  all  the  furs  now  brought  into  commerce  are  procured  from  the 
countries  north  of  the  4()th  parallel  of  north  latitude,  through  the  agency 
of  the  British  Hudson's  Bay  Comp-'iy,  or  of  the  Russian  American 
Company,  or  by  various  private  associations  and  individuals  in  the  United 
States.  Of  those  obtained  in  the  Russian  dominions,  some  are  carried 
over  land  to  China,  others  also  over  land  to  Europe,  and  the  remainder  by 
sea  to  Europe.  Those  found  in  the  territories  of  the  United  States  are 
nearly  all  carried  to  New  York,  from  which  portions  are  sent  to  London 
or  to  Canton.  The  furs  collected  in  the  parts  of  America  |)ossesst'd  or 
claimed  by  Great  Britain,  are  mostly  shipped  for  London,  cither  at  Mont- 
real, or  at  York  Factory  on  Hudson's  Bay,  or  at  Fort  Vancouver,  at  the 
head  of  navigation  of  the  Columbia  River.  The  southern  hemisphere 
supplies  scarcely  any  furs,  except  those  of  the  nutria,  of  which  consid- 
erable quantities  are  brought  from  Buenos  Ayres  to  New  York  or  to 
Ltmdon.  London  is  undoubtedly  the  nmst  extensive  mart  for  furs  in  the 
world,  and  New  York  is  probably  the  second;  of  the  others,  the  princi- 
pal are  Leipsic,  Nijr.ey-Novogorod  on  the  VVolga,  Kiakta  on  the  boun- 
dary line  between  Russia  and  China,  and  Canton.  Of  the  value  of  the 
furs  thus  annually  brought  into  trade,  it  is  impossible  to  form  an  exact 
estimate.  According  to  a  rough  calculation,  the  amount  received  by  the 
first  collectors,  for  the  skins  in  their  undressed  state,  is  about  three  mil- 
lions of  dollars ;  but  they  afterwards  pass  through  many  hands,  so  that  the 
price  is  much  enhanced  before  they  reach  the  actual  consumer. 

The  fur  trade  has  been,  hitherto,  very  profitable  to  those  engaged  in  it; 
but  it  is  now,  from  a  variety  of  causes,  declining  every  where.  The  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  persons  employed  in  the  pursuit,  and  the  spread 
of  civilized  population  over  the  countries  from  which  the  furs  are  chiefly 
procured,  are  rapidly  diminishing  the  number  of  the  animals;  so  that,  in 
many  countries  in  which  they  formerly  abounded,  not  one  can  be  obtained 


I, ' " 


I'S! 


c] 


PROOFS    AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


413 


le  length,  the  thick- 
;ious  is  thnt  of  the 
J  of  dazzling  white- 
black  color,  and  is 
,  are  the  skins  of  the 
the  black  fox;  after 
il,  and  —  though  far 
the  fox,  the  weasel, 
most  precious;  the 
collected;  while  the 
led  among  civilized 
)gether. 

rkey,  and  China, — 
>rtant  portions  of  the 
I  Europe,  and  in  the 
of  caps,  mufls,  and 
ir  furs  is  in  the  mmi- 
Jate,  and,  as  well  as 
rely  to  Europe  and 
those  of  the  beaver, 
er,  found  in  Patago- 
hats  are  composed 
fur. 

;  procured  from  the 

through  the  agency 

Russian  American 

,'iduals  in  the  United 

IS,  some  are  carried 

nd  the  remainder  by 

le  United  States  are 

are  sent  to  London 

merica  possessed  or 

don,  either  at  Mont- 

•t  Vancouver,  at  the 

outliern  hemisphere 

n,  of  wliich  consid- 

U)  New  York  or  to 

mart  for  furs  in  the 

le  others,  the  princi- 

iakta  on  the  boiui- 

Jf  the  value  of  the 

to  ft)rm  an  exact 

unt  received  by  the 

is  about  three  mil- 

ly  hands,  so  that  the 

onsumer. 

those  engaged  in  it; 
ry  where.  The  in- 
iuit,  and  the  spread 
the  furs  are  chiefly 
mimals ;  so  that,  in 
one  can  be  obtained 


at  the  present  day.  This  diminution  in  the  amount  of  the  article  oflTered 
has  not,  however,  increased  the  price ;  as  other  articles,  composed  of  silk, 
wool,  or  cotton,  are  substituted  for  furs,  with  advantage,  both  as  to  com- 
fort and  cheapness. 

For  particulars  with  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  the  fur  trade  of  the 
northern  parts  of  America  is  conducted,  see  the  accounts  of  the  Russian 
American  Company's  establishments  and  system,  in  the  Geographical 
Sketch,  and  in  chap.  xii.  of  the  History,  and  the  view  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  proceedings,  in  chap,  xviii.  Respecting  the  furs  them- 
selves, minute  information  may  be  derived  from  an  article  on  the  subject 
by  Mr.  Aiken,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Society  for  the  Encouragement 
of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Commerce,  published  at  London  in  1830,  as 
also  from  a  similar  article,  by  Professor  Silliman,  in  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  Science  and  Art  for  April,  1834,  and  from  the  article  on  furs  in 
McCuUoch's  Dictionary  c    Commerce. 


c. 


Correspondence  between  the  Spanish  Commandant  and  Com- 
missioner AT  NooTKA  Sound  and  the  Masters  of  the 
American  trading  Vessels  Columbia  and  Hope,  respecting 
THE  Occurrences  at  that  Place  in  the  Summer  of  1789.* 

Translation  of  the  Lttter  from  the  Spanish  Commandant  to  Captains 
Robert  Gray  and  Joseph  Ingraham. 

NooTKA,  August  2d,  1792. 

In  order  to  satisfy  the  court  of  England,  as  is  just,  for  the  injury,  dam- 
ages, and  usurpation,  which  it  conceives  itself  to  have  sustained  at  this 
port,  in  the  year  1789,  I  have  to  request  of  you,  gentlemen,  the  favor  to 
inform  me,  with  that  sincerity  which  distinguislies  you,  and  which  is 
conformable  with  truth  and  honor,  for  what  reason  Don  Esteban  Jose 
Martinez  seized  the  vessels  of  Colnott,  [called]  the  Ipliigenia  and  the 
North- West  America?  What  establishment  or  building  had  Mr.  Meares 
on  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards?  What  territories  are  tliose  which  he 
savs  that  he  purchased  from  Maquinna,  Yuquiniarri,  or  other  chief  of 
tliese  tribes  ?  With  what  objects  were  the  crew  of  the  North-\\  est 
America  transferred  to  the  Columbia,  and  ninety-six  skins  placed  on 
board  that  ship  ?  Finally,  what  was  the  whole  amount  of  sKins  carried 
by  you  to  China,  and  to  whom  did  they  belong  ? 

Your  most  obedient  and  assured  servant, 

Juan  Francisco  de  la  Bodkoa  y  Q,uadra. 

*  The  letter  of  Gray  and  Ini^rnhnm  is  copied  from  Insrrnham's  Joiirnal  of  his  voyage 
in  the  Hope,  preservell,  in  manuscript,  in  the  library  of  the  Department  of  State  at 
Washinirton.  The  translation  of  Quadra's  letter  is  made  from  the  original  in 
Spanish,  which  is  attached  by  a  wafer  to  the  journal.  A  synopsis  of  the  Tetter  of 
Gray  and  Ingraham,  which  is,  in  every  respect,  incorrect,  may  be  found  in  Vancou- 
ver's Journal,  vol.  i.  p.  389.     See  p.  242  of  this  History. 


1 

■  •  j 

f 

■i-t 

1:1 

]n 

r" 

!fi^ 

ill',  ■. 

i.i 

1   ? 


■  ^i 


m 


■  ^(:, 


414 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[c. 


m  >i 


mu'>.  wM' 


;t.,5,.,ii.l„ 


l.ff''#:|]i  ■■:■  M 


Anstpcr  of  Captains  Gray  and  Ingraham  to  Don  Juan  Francisco  de  la 

liodiga  If  Quadra,* 


Sir, 


NooTKA  SoiNn,  August  3rf,  1703. 


Your  esteemed  favor  was  handed  to  us  yesterday,  requesting  ft-om 
us  inforiuation  relative  to  the  transactions  between  tlie  English  and  Span- 
iards in  this  sound,  in  the  year  1781),  whicii  we  will  do  witii  great  pleasure, 
and  impartially,  as  you  re<juest. 

'^u  the  5th  of  May,  1789,  when  Don  Esteviui  Jose  Martinez  arrived  in 
Fri>'  dly  Cove,  he  found  riding  at  anchor  there  the  Iphigenia  only;  the 
ship  Columbia  being  at  Mahwhiiuia,  live  miles  up  the  sound.  The  sloop 
Washington  and  North-West  America  (schooner)  were  on  a  cruise.  This 
information  is  necessary  in  order  to  regulate  the  sequel  of  the  present. 
After  the  usual  ceremonies  of  meeting  were  over,  Don  Martinez  reciucsted 
the  papers  of  each  vessel,  an<l  demanded  why  they  were  at  anchor  in 
Nootka  Sound,  alleging  it  belonged  to  his  Catholic  majesty.  Captain 
Viana,  who  passed  as  conuiiander  of  the  Iphigenia,  answered,  they  had 
put  in,  being  in  distress,  having  but  little  provisions,  and  in  great  want  of 
every  necessary,  such  as  cables,  anchors,  rigging,  sails,  &c. ;  that  tlicv 
were  in  daily  expectation  of  the  arrival  of  Captain  Meares  from  Macao, 
to  supply  them,  when  they  should  depart.  Captain  Meares  was  expected 
to  return  in  the  same  vessel  he  sailed  in  from  hence  in  the  year  l*t<s, 
which  was  under  the  Portuguese  colors,  and  had  a  i'ortuguese  cjiptain  on 
board  :  this  vessel,  with  the  Iphigenia,  were  said  to  belong  to  one  Cravalii, 
or  Cavallo,  a  merchant  of  Macio,  in  whose  name  the  Iphinenia's  papers 
were  made  out.  Seeing  the  Iphigenia  was  in  such  want,  Don  Martinez 
gave  them  a  temporary  assistance,  by  supplying  them  with  such  artidis 
as  they  were  most  in  want,  till  the  vessel  before  mentioned  should  arrive. 
At  this  time  there  was  i.ot  the  least  suspicion  of  any  misunderstandin(r  or 
disturbance  among  us,  as  Don  Martinez  was  apparently  satisfied  witii  tlit; 
answers  each  vessel  had  given  to  his  request. 

However,  on  the  10th  of  May,  the  San  Carlos,  Captain  Arrow, 
[Haro,]  arrived.  The  same  day  the  American  ollicers  came  to  L'(|ii()f,  cr 
Friendly  Cove,  to  welcome  them  in;  and  the  next  morning,  the  lltli  of 
May,  Don  Martinez  captured  the  Iphigenia,  and  his  reason,  as  we  under- 
stand, was,  that,  in  their  Portuguese  instructions,  they  had  orders  to  cap- 
ture any  English,  Spanish,  or  Russian,  subjects  they  met  on  the  norlli- 
west  coast  of  America.  This,  at  the  time,  seemed  improbable,  as  she 
was  a  vessel  of  small  force;  and  it  was  afterwards  found  to  have  been  a 
mistake,  owing  to  their  want  of  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Portn^niese 
languaire.  However,  after  the  vessel  was  taken,  the  ofiicers  and  seamen 
were  divided,  some  on  board  the  Princosa,  and  s(mie  on  board  the  San 
Carlos,  where  thev  were  treated  with  all  imaginable  kindness,  and  every 
attention  paid  them. 

*  Referenep  is  frequently  made  to  this  letter  in  the  Pth  and  11th  cliapfers  of  tlif^ 
prer.cdiiiij'  History.  A  synopsis  of  its  contents  may  be  fdiinrl  in  the  Kith  chnpter  nf 
Vancouvrr's  account  of  his  expeditien,  on  cnmparinjr  whicli  with  the  letter,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  evidence  of  the  American  cnptains  is  jrarbied  and  distorted  in  tin." 
most  unworthy  miinncr  in  the  synopsis,  not  only  by  su])pressions,  but  even  by  direct 
falsifications.  To  show  this  fully,  it  would  be  necessary  to  insert  the  whole  of  Van- 
couver's synopsis;  the  assertion,  however,  is  sutficiently  proved  by  the  few  notes 
which  follow. 


[a 

tflfw  Francisco  de  la 

D,  August  n</,  nna. 

ay,  requesting  from 

3  English  and  Sp;in- 

witli  great  pleasure, 

Martinez  arrived  in 
Iphigenia  only  ;  the 

sound.  The  sloop 
e  on  a  cruise.  Tliis 
quel  of  the  present. 
1  Martinez  re(|ui'stpd 
'  were  at  anclior  in 
c  majesty.  Captnin 
,  answered,  they  liad 
ind  in  great  wnnt  of 
sails,  &c. ;  that  tlicy 
kleares  from  Macao, 
ileares  was  expected 
e  in  tlie  year  I'^s, 
ortuguese  cisptiin  on 
long  to  one  Cravaiin, 
le  Iphiirenia's  papers 
want,  Don  Martinez 
n  with  such  artides 
tioned  should  arrive. 

niisunderstandiim  or 

tly  satisfied  with  tin; 

OS,    Captain    Arrow, 
rs  came  to  L'lpiot,  cr 
lorning,  the    1  Itli  cf 
reason,  as  we  under- 
had  orders  to  c::|i- 
V  met  on  the  norlli- 
improbahle,  as  slio 
ind  to  have  been  a 
e  of  the  Portuguese 
oflicers  and  seamen 
on  hoard  the  San 
kindness,  and  every 


(1  mil  rhnpters  of  fli" 
1  in  llie  loth  ehaplcr  nf 
I  witli  the  letter,  it  will 

(1  and  distorted  in  tin.' 
ons,  but  even  by  direct 
inert  tlie  wliole  of  Van- 
oved  by  the  few  notes 


c] 


■'•ii 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


415 


*  On  the  24th  of  May,  the  above-mentioned  mistake  being  discovered, 
the  Iphigenia  was  returned  again,  and  the  Portuguese  flag  hoisted  on 
board  her :  the  same  day.  Captain  Douglas,  with  the  Portuguese  captain 
and  seamen,  repaired  on  board.  The  Iphigenia,  while  in  possession  of 
the  Spaniards,  from  being  a  wreck  was  put  in  complete  order  for  sea, 
being  calked,  rigging  and  sails  repaired,  anchors  and  cables  sent  from  the 
Princesa,  &lc.  On  the  2(ith,  Don  Martinez  supplied  them  with  every  kind 
of  provisions  they  were  in  need  of,  for  which  Captain  Douglas  gave  him 
bills  on  Cravalia,  the  before-mentioned  merchant  of  Macao.  On  the  3lst, 
the  Iphigenia  sailed,  and  was  saluted  by  the  Spanish  fort;  and  the  com- 
modore accompanied  them  out  of  the  harbor,  giving  every  assistance  with 
boats,  &.C.  VVhen  Captain  Douglas  took  his  leave  of  the  commodore,  he 
declared  he  should  ever  entertain  a  sense  of  Don  Martinez's  kindness, 
(leeniing  his  conduct  relative  to  the  vessel  no  more  than  his  duty  as  a 
king's  officer.  Upon  the  whole,  we  both  believe  the  Iphigenia's  being 
detained  was  of  intinite  service  to  those  who  were  concerned  in  her. 
This  must  be  plain  to  every  one  who  will  consider  the  situation  of  the 
vessel  when  the  Princesa  arrived,  and  the  advantages  reaped  from  the 
^npplies  and  assistance  of  the  Spaniards.  The  detention,  if  it  may  be 
called  so,  could  be  no  detriment;  for,  had  nothing  taken  place,  she  must 
have  remained  two  months  longer  at  least,  having,  as  has  already  been 
mentioned,  put  into  port,  being  in  distress.  Of  course  they  could  not 
have  sailed  till  supplies  arrived,  which  was  not  till  July,  as  will  appear  in 
the  sequel:  whereas,  being  early  fitted,  as  above  mentioned,  she  sailed  on 
the  coast  northward  of  Nootka  Sound,  and,  there  being  no  other  vessel  there, 
they  collected  upwards  of  seven  hundred  sea  otter  skins;  which  ha3  been 
often  represented  to  us  by  Captain  Douglas  and  his  officers,  after  our 
arrival  in  China.  This  may  suffice  for  the  transactions  relative  to  the 
Ijihigenia.  Before  Captain  Douglas  sailed,  he  gave  Don  Estevan  Marti- 
nez a  letter  to  Mr.  Eunter,  master  of  the  schooner  North-West  America, 
telling  him,  from  Captain  Meares's  not  arriving  at  the  appointed  time,  there 
was  great  reason  to  fear  the  vessel  he  sailed  from  Nootka  in  had  never 
reached  China,  (she  being  in  bad  condition  when  she  sailed  from  this 
place;)  therefore,  as  he,  Mr.  F'unter,  must,  on  his  arrival,  be  destitute  of 
every  necessary,  he  was  at  liberty  to  conduct  as  he  thought  most  condu- 
cive to  the  interests  of  his  employers.  We  shall  make  mention  of  this 
vessel  again  hereafter. 

Interim,  we  observe  your  wish  to  be  acquainted  what  house  or  estab- 
lishment Mr.  Meares  had  at  the  time  the  Spaniards  arrived  here.  We 
answer  in  a  word,  None.  On  the  arrival  of  the  Columbia,  in  the  year 
17S8,  there  was  a  house,  or  rather  a  hut,  consisting  of  rough  posts,  cov- 
ered with  boards,  made  by  the  Indians ;  but  this  Captain  Douglas  pulled 
to  pieces,  prior  to  his  sailing  for  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  same  year. 
The  boards  he  took  on  board  the  Iphigenia,  and  the  roof  he  gave  to 
Captain  Kendrick,  which  was  cut  up  and  used  as  firewood  on  board  the 
Columbia ;  so  that,  on  the  arrival  of  Don  Estevan  J.  Martinez,  there  was 

*  Of  tlie  whole  of  this  paragraph,  all  tl.at  is  said  by  Vancouver  is,  "The  vessel 
and  cargo  were  liberated,  and  Martinez  supplied  the  Iphigenia's  wants  from  the 
Princesa,  enabling  her,  by  so  doing,  to  prosecute  her  voyage  without  waiting  for  the 
return  of  Mr.  Meares."  The  extremity  of  distress  to  which  the  Iphigenia  was  re- 
duced on  her  arrival  at  Nootka,  tbf  seven  hundred  sea  otter  skins,  and  the  other  ad- 
vantages derived  by  her  owners  from  tlie  supplies  furnished  by  the  Spanish  command- 
ant, are  carefully  kept  out  of  sight. 


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416 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[c. 


no  vestige  of  any  house  remiTininji.  As  to  the  land  Mr.  Menres  said  he 
purchased  of  Maquinna  or  any  other  cliicf,  wo  cannot  say  further  than  \vc 
never  heard  of  any ;  ahhoujjli  we  remained  anion^  these  people  nine 
months,  and  could  converse  with  them  perfectly  well.  Besides  this,  we 
have  asked  Maquinna  and  other  chiefs,  since  our  late  arrival,  if  Captain 
Meares  ever  purchased  any  land  in  Nootka  Sound;  they  answered,  lYo; 
that  Captain  Kendrick  was  the  only  man  to  whom  they  had  ever  sold 
any  land. 

On  the  8th  of  June,  the  schooner  North-West  America  arrived,  and 
the  next  day  the  Spaniards. took  possession  of  her.  Don  E.  J.  Martinez 
had  an  account  taken  of  the  property  on  board,  particularly  of  the  skins, 
which  he  said  should  be  given  to  the  officers  and  seamen,  tliat  they  niitrht 
be  sure  of  their  wages.  On  the  UHh  of  June,  the  sloop  Princess  Uoyiil 
arrived  from  Macao,  commanded  by  Thomas  Hudson  ;  this  vessel  bronjrht 
accounts  of  the  safe  arrival  of  Captain  Meares,  and  that  Captain  Colnctt 
was  coming  on  the  coast,  commodore  of  the  English  trading  vessels  from 
Macao  for  the  ensuing  season,  in  a  snow  named  the  Argonaut.  Mr. 
Hudson  likewise  brought  accounts  of  the  failure  of  Juan  Cravalia  &,  Co., 
merchants  of  Macao,  i»efore  mentioned.  What  right  the  commodore  had 
to  detain  the  North-Weiit  America  before,  it  is  not  for  tis  to  say ;  but  lie 
always  said  it  was  an  agreement*  between  Captain  Douglas  and  himsell"; 
but,  after  the  Jirrival  of  this  vessel  with  the  above  news,  he'held  her  as 
security  for  the  bills  of  exchange  drawn  on  said  Cravalia  &  Co.  in  fivor 
of  his  Catholic  majesty  :  this  we  have  heard  him  say.  On  the 'id  of  July, 
the  Princess  Royal  sailed  out  of  the  port,  having,  to  our  knowledge,  been 
treated  by  the  commodore  and  his  officers  with  every  possible  attention, 
which  Captain  Hudson  himself  seemed  conscious  of  and  grateful  for. 
Prior  to  this  vessel's  sailing,  the  commodore  gave  to  Mr.  Funtor  all  the 
skins  he  brought  in  in  the  North-West  America,  which  were  shipped  on 
board  the  sloop  Princess  Royal  by  Mr.  Funter,  for  his  own  account.  In 
the  evening  of  the  2d,  a  sail  was  descried  from  the  Spanish  fort.  We 
were  among  the  first  that  went  out  to  meet  them.  It  j)roved  to  be  the 
Argonaut,  Captain  Colnett,  before  mentioned.  The  transactions  of  tiiis 
vessel  were  such,  that  we  can  give  the  sense  of  them  in  a  few  words,  that 
may  answer  every  purpose  of  the  particulars,  many  of  which  are  not  im- 
mediately to  the  point,  or  tending  to  what  we  su|)j)ose  you  wish  to  know. 

It  seems  Captain  Meares,  with  some  other  Englishmen  at  Macao,  had 
concluded  to  erect  a  fort  and  settle  a  colony  in  Nootka  Soimd  ;  from  wliat 
authority  we  camiot  say.  However,  on  the  arrival  of  the  Argonaut,  we 
heard  Captain  Colnett  inform  the  Spanish  connnodore  he  had  come  for 
that  purpose,  and  to  hoist  the  British  Hag,  take  formal  possession,  &,c. ; 

*  The  nccotint  of  the  seizure  of  the  North-West  America  in  the  letter  is  tlius 
presented  by  Vancouver  :  — 

•'The  North-West  America  is  stated  by  these  pentlemen  to  have  arrived  on  the 
8th  of  June,  and  thjit,  on  the  following  any,  the  Spaniards  took  possession  of  her. 
Ten  days  afterwards  came  the  Princess  Koyal,  commanded  by  Mr.  Hudson,  from 
Macao,  who  brought  the  news  of  the  failure  of  the  merchant  at  Macao,  to  whom  tho 
Iphigenia  and  other  vessels  belonged ;  that  Martinez  assigned  this  as  a  reason  for 
his  capturing  the  North-West  America,  (althont  h  she  was  seized  before  the  arrival  of 
the  Princess  Royal ;)  that  he  had  detained  her  as  an  indenmification  for  the  bills  of 
exchange  drawn  on  her  owner  in  favor  of  his  Catholic  majesty." 

The  parenthesis  is  here  inserted  obviously  witli  the  intention  of  creating  the  im- 
pression that  Gray  and  Ingraham  had  committed  a  falsehood  or  inconsistency  in  their 
evidence ;  although  this  idea  is  specially  contradicted  in  the  letter. 


ic 

Mr.  Mearcs  said  he 
say  further  tlian  we 
jr  these  people  nine 
1.  Besides  this,  \vc 
e  arrival,  if  Captain 
they  answered.  No; 
they  had  ever  sold 

imerica  arrived,  and 
Don  E.  J.  Martinez 
cularly  of  the  skins, 
ncn,  that  they  niiijlit 
sloop  Princess  Royiij 
;  this  vessel  hroiiglit 
that  Captain  Cohiott 
I  tradiiiir  vessels  from 
the  Argonaut.     I\lr. 
luan  Cravalia  tit  Co., 
I  the  commodore  had 
lor  us  to  say  ;  hut  lie 
Jougias  and  hiniselt'; 
news,  he'held  her  as 
ivalia  &-  Co.  in  favor 
On  the -id  of  July, 
our  knowledge,  been 
ry  possible  attention, 
of  and  grateful  for. 
>  Mr.  Funter  all  the 
lich  were  shipped  on 
is  own  account.     In 
10  Spanish  fort.     We 
t  proved  to  be  tlie 
transactions  of  this 
in  a  few  words,  that 
of  which  arc  not  ini- 
se  you  wish  to  know. 
nnen  at  Macao,  had 
a  St)imd  ;  from  what 
of  the  Argonaut,  we 
)re  he  had  come  for 
inal  possession,  &:.c. : 

ica  in  tlie  letter  is  tlius 

to  have  arrived  on  the 
took  possession  of  her. 
d  by  Mr.  Hudson,  from 
at  Macao,  to  whom  the 
lied  tliia  as  a  reason  for 
ized  before  the  arrival  of 
ifioation  for  the  bills  of 
ty." 

tion  of  creating  the  im- 
or  inconsistency  in  their 
letter. 


c] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


417 


to  which  the  commodore  answered,  he  had  taken  possession  already  in  the 
name  of  his  Catholic  majesty ;  on  which  Captain  Colnett  asked  if  he 
would  be  prevented  from  building  a  house  in  the  port.  The  commodore, 
mistaking  his  meaning,  answered  him,  he  was  at  liberty  to  erect  a  tent, 
get  wood  and  water,  &-c.,  after  which  he  was  at  liberty  to  depart  when  he 
pleased ;  but  Captain  Colnett  said  that  was  not  what  he  wanted,  but  to 
build  a  block  house,  erect  a  fort,  and  settle  a  colony,  for  the  crown  of 
Great  Britain.  Don  Estevan  Jose  Martinez  answered,  No;  that,  in  doing 
that,  he  should  violate  the  orders  of  his  king,  run  a  risk  of  losing  his 
commission,  and  not  only  that,  but  it  would  be  relinquishing  the  Span- 
iards' claim  to  the  coast :  besides,  Don  Martinez  observed,  the  vessels  did 
not  belong  to  the  king,  nor  was  he  intrusted  with  powers  to  transact  such 
public  business.  On  which  Captain  Colnett  answered,  he  was  a  king's 
officer ;  but  Don  Estevan  replied,  his  being  in  the  navy  was  of  no  conse- 
quence in  the  business.  *In  conversing  on  the  subject,  after  the  arrival 
of  the  vessel  in  port,  it  seems  Captain  Colnett  insulted  the  commodore  by 
threatening  him,  and  drew  his  sword  in  the  Princesa's  cabin ;  on  which 
Don  Martinez  ordered  the  vessel  to  be  seized.  We  did  not  see  him  draw 
his  sword,  but  were  informed  of  the  circumstance  by  those  whose  veracity 
we  had  no  reason  to  doubt.  After  seizing  the  Argonaut,  the  sloop  Prin- 
cess Royal  arrived  a  secon<l  time;  and,  as  she  belonged  to  the  same  com- 
pany, the  commodore  took  possession  of  her  also.  With  respect  to  the 
treatment  of  the  prisoners,  although  we  have  not  perused  Mr.  Meares's 
publication,  we  presume  none  of  them  will  be  backward  in  confessing 
that  Don  E.  J.  Martinez  always  treated  them  very  kindly,  and  all  his 
officers,  consistent  with  the  character  of  gentlemen. 

Having  acquainted  you  with  the  principal  part  of  the  business,  agree- 
able to  request,  one  thing  remains  to  answer,  which  is,  of  the  Ctiptain, 
officers,  and  seamen,  of  the  North-West  America.  You  ask  if  we  car- 
ried them  to  China.  We  did,  and  with  them  one  hundred  sea  otter  skins, 
the  value  of  which,  we  judge,  independent  of  freight,  was  four  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars ;  these  were  delivered  to  Mr. 
Meares,  and  were,  we  suppose,  his  pr«)pcrty.  We  sincerely  hope,  sir, 
when  tilings  are  represented  with  truth,  it  will  rescue  our  friend  Don 
Estevan  J.  Martinez  from  censure ;  at  least,  that  he  may  not  be  deemed 
an  impostor  and  a  pirate,  which  many,  from  only  hearing  one  part  of  the 
story,  supposed  he  was.  As  to  the  treatment  of  the  Americans  by  Don 
Estevan,  we  have  ever  testified  it  in  terms  due  to  such  hospitality,  and 
are  happy  again  to  have  it  in  our  power  to  do  what  we  deem  justice  to  his 
conduct.  While  speaking  of  others  of  your  nation,  we  can  never  be  un- 
mindful of  you.  Your  kind  reception  and  treatment  of  us  has  made  an 
impression  that  will  not  be  easily  erased ;  and  we  hope  you  will  bear  in 
mind  how  very  sincerely  we  are,  sir,  your  most  humble  servants, 

Robert  Gray, 
Joseph  Ingraham. 

*  Vancouver  here  writes,  —  using  the  first  person,  as  if  copying  the  words  of  the 
American  captains,  — "  In  conversation  afterwards  on  tiiis  subject,  as  we  were  in- 
formed,  (say  these  gentlemen,)  —  for  we  were  not  present  during  this  transaction, — 
some  dispute  arose  in  the  Princesa's  cabin ;  on  which  Don  Martinez  ordered  the  Ar- 
gonaut to  be  seized.  Soon  after  this  the  Princess  Royal  returned,"  &-c. ;  the  rumor 
that "  Colnett  insulted  the  commodore  by  threatening  him,  and  drew  his  auiord  in  the 
Prineeaa's  eaMn,"  being  omitted. 

53 


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418 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[D. 


D. 


Official  Documents  relative  to  the  Dispute  between  Great 
Britain  and  Spain  in  nOO.* 

Message  from  the  King  of  Great  Britain  to  Parliament,  May  5tk,  1790. 

George  R. 

His  majesty  has  received  information  that  two  vessels,  bclonginir 
to  his  majesty's  subjects,  and  navigated  under  the  British  flag,  and  two 
others,  of  which  the  description  is  not  hitherto  sutHciently  ascertained, 
have  been  captured  at  Nootka  Sound,  on  the  nortli-western  coast  of 
America,  by  an  officer  commanding  two  Spanish  ships  of  war;  that  the 
cargoes  of  the  British  vessels  have  been  seized,  and  that  their  officers  and 
crews  have  been  sent  as  prisoners  to  a  Spanish  port. 

The  capture  of  one  of  these  vessels  had  before  been  notified  by  the 
ambassador  of  his  Catholic  majesty,  by  order  of  his  court,  who,  at  the 
same  time,  desired  that  measures  might  be  taken  for  preventing  his  ninjcs- 
ty's  subjects  from  frequenting  those  coasts,  which  were  nijpged  to  have 
been  previously  occupied  and  frequented  by  the  subjects  of  Spain.  Com. 
plaints  were  also  made  of  the  fisheries  carried  on  by  his  majesty's  subjects 
in  the  seas  adjoining  to  the  Spanish  continent,  as  being  contrary  to  the 
rights  of  the  crown  of  Spain.  In  consequence  of  this  communication,  a 
demand  was  immediately  made,  by  his  majesty's  or<ler,  for  adequate  satis- 
faction, and  for  the  restitution  of  the  vessel,  previous  to  any  other  dis- 
cussion. 

By  the  answer  from  the  court  of  Spain,  it  appears  that  this  vessel  and 
her  crew  had  been  set  at  liberty  by  the  viceroy  of  Mexico;  but  this  is 
represented  to  have  been  done  by  him  on  the  supposition  Jiat  nothincr  but 
the  ignorance  of  the  rights  of  Spain  encouraged  the  individuals  of  other 
nations  to  come  to  those  coasts  for  the  purpose  of  making  establishments, 
or  carrying  on  trade,  and  in  conformity  to  his  previous  instructions,  re- 
quiring him  to  show  all  possible  regard  to  the  British  nation. 

No  satisfaction  is  made  or  offered,  Jind  a  direct  claim  is  asserted  by  the 
court  of  Spain  to  the  exclusive  rights  of  sovereignty,  navigation,  and 
commerce,  in  the  territories,  coasts,  and  seas,  in  that  part  of  the  world. 

His  majesty  has  now  directed  his  minister  at  Madrid  to  make  a  fresh 
representation  on  this  subject,  and  to  claim  such  full  and  adequate  satis- 
faction as  the  nature  of  the  case  evidently  requires.  And,  under  these 
circumstances,  his  majesty,  having  also  received  information  that  consid- 
erable  armaments  are  carrying  on  in  the  ports  of  Sptiin,  has  judged  it 
indispensably  necessary  to  give  orders  for  making  such  preparations  as 
may  put  it  in  his  majesty's  power  to  act  with  vigor  and  effect  in  support 
of  the  honor  of  his  crown  and  the  interests   of  his  people.     And  his 

*  The  follow  inff  papers,  with  the  exception  of  the  last,  are  taken  from  the  London 
Annual  Register  for  1790.  The  translations  of  the  Spanish  notes  are  evidently  made 
with  Uttle  care.    See  chap.  ix.  of  this  History. 


mmt,  May  5th,  1790. 


D.1 


PROOrS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


419 


majesty  recommends  it  to  hia  faithful  Commons,  on  whose  zeal  and  public 
spirit  he  has  the  most  perfect  reliance,  to  enable  him  to  take  such  meas- 
ures, and  to  ujiikc  siicli  augmentation  of  his  forces,  as  may  he  eventually 
iieccMsary  for  this  purpose. 

It  is  his  majesty's  earnest  wish  that  the  justice  of  his  majesty's  demands 
may  insure,  from  the  wisdom  and  equity  of  his  Catholic  majesty,  the  sat- 
isfaction which  is  so  unquestionably  due,  and  that  this  affair  may  be  termi- 
nated in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent  any  grounds  of  misunderstanding  in 
future,  and  to  continue  and  confirm  that  harmony  and  friendship  which 
has  so  happily  subsisted  between  the  two  courts,  and  which  his  majesty 
will  always  endeavor  to  maintain  and  improve,  by  all  such  means  as  are 
consistent  with  the  dignity  of  his  majesty's  crown  and  the  essential  interests 
of  his  subjects. 

G.  R. 

(2.) 

Declaration  of  the  King  of  Spain  to  alt  the  other  Courts  of  Europe. 

AnANjuEz,  June  4tk,  1790. 

Tin:  king,  being  apprized  of  the  particulars  laid  before  his  ministers, 
on  the  IGth  of  May,  by  Mr.  Merry,  his  Britannic  maje-^ty's  minister, 
relative  to  the  unexpected  dispute  between  this  court  and  Great  Britain, 
as  to  the  vessels  captured  in  Port  St.  Lawrence,  or  Nootka  Soimd,  on  the 
c(>ast  of  California,  in  the  South  Sea,  has  commanded  the  undersigned, 
his  miijcsty's  first  secretary  of  state,  to  answer  to  the  said  minister  of 
Eniilaiid,  that  he  had  the  honor  to  make  known  personally,  and  in  writing, 
to  the  said  minister,  upon  the  18th  of  the  same  month,  that  his  majesty 
at  no  time  pretended  to  any  rights  in  any  ports,  seas,  or  places,  other  than 
what  belongs  to  his  crown  by  the  most  solemn  treaties,  recognized  by  all 
niUions,  and  more  particularly  with  Great  Britain,  by  a  right  founded  on 
particular  treaties,  the  uniform  consent  of  both  nations,  and  by  an  imme- 
morial, regular,  and  established  possession ;  that  his  majesty  is  ready  to 
enter  upon  every  examination  and  discussion  most  likely  to  terminate  the 
dispute  in  an  amicable  way,  and  is  willing  to  enter  into  immediate  con- 
ference with  the  new  ambassador,  and,  if  justice  requires  it,  will  certainly 
flisnpprove  of  the  conduct,  and  punish  liis  subjects,  if  they  have  gone 
beyond  their  powers.  This  offer  and  satisfaction  will,  it  is  hoped,  serve 
as  an  example  to  the  court  of  London  to  do  as  much  on  its  part. 

As  the  two  courts  of  London  and  Madrid  have  not  yet  received  proper 
and  authenticated  accounts  and  proofs  of  all  that  'as  really  passed  in 
these  distant  latitudes,  a  contradiction  in  the  development  of  facts  has  by 
this  means  been  occasioned.  Even  at  this  moment,  the  papers  and  min- 
utes made  up  by  the  viceroy  of  New  Spain  on  this,  matter  are  not  arrived. 
Posterior  letters,  indeed,  say  that  the  English  vessel,  the  Argonaut,  had 
not  been  seized  and  confiscated  till  legally  condemned,  and  that  the  small 
vessel,  called  the  Princess  Royal,  which  had  afterwards  arrived,  was  not 
seized  or  confiscated,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  full  restitution  was  made 
by  the  viceroy,  and  an  obligation  only  taken  from  the  captain  to  pay  the 
price  of  the  vessel,  if  she  was  declared  a  lawful  prize ;  and  on  the  precise 
same  terms  he  had  liberated  a  Portuguese  vessel  belonging  to  Macao,  and 
two  American  vessels.  These  parti"ulars  will  be  more  explicitly  proved 
and  elucidated  on  the  arrival  of  the  necessary  papers. 


'  il:   : 

■t! 


m  ^ 


I 


>'    I 


i"ii'i? 


*5S 


h 

. 

1     1 " : 

,f 

||. 

420 


PROOrS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[D. 


*-: 


;'  it! 


fl    ! 


The  first  time  that  our  amba^Hador  mnde  a  public  notification  of  this 
matter  to  tlic  ministry  ut  Lomion,  on  the  lOtti  of  February  last,  many  of 
the  circum.itunces  that  are  now  certain  were  then  doubtful.  The  riirhtg 
and  immemorial  posHession  of  Spain  to  tliat  coast  and  ports,  as  well  an 
several  other  titles  proper  to  lie  taken  into  view  in  a  pacific  negotiation, 
were  not  (piito  certain ;  and,  if  the  c«)urt  of  London  had  made  an  ami. 
ruble  return  to  the  complaints  made  by  his  majesty  relative  to  those  incr< 
chants  whom  Spain  regards  as  usur[)ers  and  the  violators  of  treaties,  and 
hnd  sliowed  any  desire  to  terminate  the  atfuir  by  an  amicable  accomiiKv 
datioii,  a  great  deal  of  unnecessary  expense  nii^dit  have  been  saved.  The 
high  and  menacing  tone  and  manner  in  which  the  answer  of  the  British 
minister  was  couched,  at  a  time  when  no  certain  inf«)rmation  of  the  par- 
ticulars had  arrived,  made  the  Spanish  cabinet  entertain  some  suspicions 
that  it  was  made  not  so  much  for  the  purpose  of  the  dispute  in  (piestion, 
as  a  pretext  to  break  entirely  with  our  court ;  for  which  reason  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  take  some  precautions  relative  to  the  subject. 

Ou  a  late  occasion,  a  complaint  was  made  to  the  court  of  Russia,  as 
to  some  similar  points  relative  to  the  navigation  of  the  South  Sea.  A 
candid  answer  being  returned  by  that  court,  the  affair  was  terminated 
withimt  the  least  <lisagreement.  Indeed,  it  may  be  asserted  with  truth, 
that  the  manner,  much  more  than  the  substance,  has  produced  the  dis- 
putes that  have  taken  place  on  this  head  with  Great  Britain. 

Nevertheless,  the  king  does  deny  —  what  the  enemies  to  peace  have 
industriously  circulated  —  that  Spain  extends  pretensions  and  rights  of 
sovereignty  over  the  whole  of  the  South  Sea  as  far  as  China.  Wlien  the 
words  are  made  use  of,  "  In  the  name  of  the  king,  his  sovereignty,  nnvi- 
gation,  and  exclusive  commerce  to  the  continent  and  islands  of  the  South 
Sea,"  it  is  the  manner  in  which  Spain,  in  speaking  of  the  Indies,  Ims 
always  used  these  words;  that  is  to  say,  to  the  continent,  islands,  and 
seas,  which  belong  to  his  majesty,  so  far  as  <liscoveries  have  been  made 
and  secured  to  him  by  treaties  and  inniiemorial  possession,  and  iiniforndy 
acquiesced  in,  notwithstanding  some  infringements  by  individuals,  who 
have  been  punished  upon  knowledge  of  their  offences:  and  the  king  sets 
up  no  pretc'isions  to  any  possessions,  the  right  to  which  he  cannot  prui^ 
by  irrefragable  titles. 

Although  Spain  may  not  have  establishments  or  colonies  planted  upon 
the  coasts  or  in  the  ports  in  dispute,  it  does  not  follow  that  such  coast  or 
port  does  not  belong  to  her.  If  this  rule  were  to  be  followed,  one  nation 
might  establish  colonies  on  the  coasts  of  another  nation,  in  America,  Asin, 
Africa,  and  Europe,  by  which  means  there  would  be  no  fixed  boundaries 
—  a  circuinst:ince  evidently  absurd. 

But,  whatever  may  be  the  issue  of  the  question  of  right,  upon  a  ma- 
ture consideraticm  of  the  claims  of  both  parties,  the  result  of  the  question 
of  fart  is.  tliat  the  capture  of  the  English  vessels  is  repaired  by  the  resti- 
tution that  has  been  made,  iind  the  conduct  of  the  viceroy :  for,  as  to  the 
qiinlification  of  such  restitution,  and  whether  the  prize  was  lawful  or  not, 
that  respects  the  question  of  right  yet  to  he  investigated;  that  is  to  say, 
if  it  has  been  agreeably  to,  or  in  contradiction  to,  the  treaties  relative  to 
the  rights  and  possessions  of  Spain.  Lastly,  the  king  will  readily  enter 
into  any  plan  by  which  future  disputes  on  this  subject  may  be  obviated, 
that  no  reproach  may  be  upon  him  as  having  refused  any  means  of  recon- 
ciliation, and  for  the  e.stablishment  of  a  solid  and  permanent  peace,  not 


I  I 

I 


D.1 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


421 


ti,       I 


i  notification  of  this 
l)ruury  lust,  many  of 
>ul)ttul.  The  rights 
lid  ports,  as  well  as 

pncitic  iicgotiution, 
I  had  made  an  niiii< 
'lutive  to  those  incr. 
iturs  of  treaties,  and 
amicable  accoinnio 
le  been  saved.  The 
iiHwer  of  the  British 
orination  of  the  par- 
aiii  some  suspicions 
dispute  in  (piestion, 
which  reason  it  was 
o  the  subject. 

court  of  Russia,  as 

the  South  Sea.     A 

rt'air  was  terminated 

asserted  with  truth, 
as  produced  the  dis- 
Britain. 

jniies  to  peace  have 
isions  and  riylits  of 
s  China.  When  the 
his  sovereignty,  navi- 
islands  of  the  South 
jT  of  the  Indies,  Ims 
ntinent,  islands,  and 
ies  have  been  niiide 
ssion,  and  iiniforndy 

by  individuals,  who 
s  :  and  the  king  sets 
ich  he  cannot  piu.c 

olonies  planted  upon 
V  that  such  coast  or 

bl lowed,  one  nation 
)n,  in  America,  Asia, 

no  fixed  boundaries 

f  right,  upon  a  ma- 
esult  of  the  (piestion 
epaired  by  the  resti- 
ceroy  :  for,  as  to  the 
;c  was  lawful  or  not, 
ted;  that  is  to  say, 
treaties  relative  to 
[ig  will  readily  enter 
:ct  may  be  obviated, 
any  means  of  recon- 
;rmanent  peace,  not 


only  between  Spain  and  Great  Britain,  but  also  between  nil  nations ;  for 
the  accomplishment  of  which  object,  his  majesty  has  made  the  grealeat 
clforts  in  all  the  courts  of  Ftlurope,  which  he  certainly  would  not  have 
done  if  he  had  any  design  to  involve  England  and  the  other  European 
powers  in  a  calamitous  and  destructive  war. 

El  Cunde  de  Florida  Blanca. 


(3.) 

Memorial  of  the  Court  of  Spain,  presented  by  Count  de  Florida  Blanca, 
the  Spanish  Minister  of  State,  to  Mr.  Fitzherbert,  the  British  Ambas- 
sador at  Madrid. 

Madrid,  June  VM,  1790. 

Bv  every  treaty  upon  record  betwixt  Spain  and  the  other  nations  of 
Europe,  for  upwards  of  two  centuries,  an  exclusive  right  of  property, 
navigation,  and  commerce,  to  the  Spanish  West  Indies,  has  been  uniformly 
secured  to  Spain,  England  having  always  .stood  forth  in  a  particular  i. mi- 
ner in  support  of  such  right. 

By  article  8th  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  (a  treaty  in  which  all  he 
r.iiropean  nations  may  be  said  to  have  taken  a  part,)  Spain  and  England 
profess  to  establish  it  as  a  fundamental  principle  of  agreement,  that  the 
nivigatiou  and  commerce  of  the  West  Indies,  under  the  duminion  o{' 
Sjiaiii,  shall  remain  in  the  precise  situation  in  which  they  stood  in  the 
reiiru  of  his  Catholic  majesty  Charles  II.,  and  that  that  rule  shall  be  invi- 
olahly  adhered  to,  and  be  incapable  of  infringement. 

Al'ter  this  maxim,  the  two  powers  stipulated  that  Spain  should  never 
irrant  liberty  or  permission  to  any  nation  to  trade  to,  or  introduce  their 
merchandises  into,  the  Spanish  American  dominions,  nor  to  sell,  cede, 
or  (five  up,  to  any  other  nation  its  lands,  dominions,  or  territories,  or  any 
part  there»)f.  On  the  contrary,  and  in  order  that  its  territories  should  be 
preserved  whole  and  entire,  England  otTers  to  aid  and  assist  the  Spaniards 
::<  'oestaltlishing  the  limits  of  their  American  dominions,  and  placing 
them  ill  the  exact  situation  they  stood  in  at  the  time  of  his  said  Catholic 
majesty  Charles  II.,  if,  by  accident,  it  shall  be  discovered  that  they  have 
utKiersione  any  alteration  to  the  prejudice  of  Spain,  in  whatever  manner 
or  pretext  such  alteration  may  have  been  broiiglit  about. 

The  vast  extent  of  the  Spanish  territories,  navigation,  and  dominion, 
on  the  continent  of  America,  isles  and  seas  contiguous  to  the  South  Sea, 
are  clearly  laid  down,  and  authenticated  by  a  variety  of  documents,  laws, 
and  formal  acts  of  possession,  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  II.  li  i-  dso 
clearly  ascertained,  that,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  attempts  niiiJe  by 
adventurers  and  jiirates  on  the  Spanish  coasts  of  the  South  Sea  and  adja- 
cent islands,  Spain  has  still  preserved  her  possessions  entire,  and  opposed 
with  success  those  usurpations,  by  constantly  sending  her  shiiJH  Jind  vessels 
to  take  possession  of  such  settlements.  By  these  meas'ir' .-,  and  reiterated 
acts  of  possession,  Spain  has  preserved  her  dominion,  which  she  has  ex- 
tended to  the  borders  of  the  Russian  establishments,  in  that  part  of  the 
world. 

The  viceroys  of  Peru  and  New  Spain  having  been  informed  that  these 
seas  had   been,  for  some  years   past,  more  frequented   than    formerly, 


':r'>s 


1  ., 

I-  ■ 

'  '•-'■  1 

* 

;_  ,  .  _■ 

b 

i 

4-23 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[D. 


Ill 


t'l',; 


1  t 


lii> 


'% 


'.'.(• 


that  smuggling  had  increased,  that  several  usurpations  prejudicial  to 
Spain  and  tho  general  tranquillity  had  been  suffered  to  be  made,  they 
gave  orders  that  the  western  coasts  of  Spanish  America,  and  islands  and 
seas  adjacent,  should  be  more  frequently  navigated  and  explored. 

They  were  also  informed  that  several  Russian  vessels  were  upon  the 
point  of  making  commercial  establishments  upon  that  coast.  At  the  time 
that  Spain  demonstrated  to  Russia  the  inconveniences  attendant  upon 
such  encroachments,  she  entered  upon  the  negotiation  with  Russia,  upon 
the  supposition  that  the  Russian  navigators  of  the  Pjicific  Ocean  had  no 
orders  to  make  establishments  within  the  limits  of  Spanish  America,  of 
which  the  Spaniards  were  .the  first  possessors,  (limits  situated  within 
Prince  William's  Strait,)  purposely  to  avoid  all  dissensions,  and  in  order 
to  maintain  the  harmony  and  amity  which  Spain  wished  to  preserve. 

The  court  of  Russia  replied,  it  had  already  given  orders  that  its  sub- 
jects should  make  no  settlements  in  pliices  belonging  to  other  powers, 
and  that,  if  those  orders  had  been  violated,  and  any  had  been  made  in 
Spanish  America,  they  desired  the  king  would  put  a  stop  to  them  in  a 
friendly  manner.  To  this  pacific  language  on  the  part  of  Russia,  Spain 
observed  that  she  could  not  be  answerable  for  what  her  officers  miirht  do 
at  that  distance,  whose  general  orders  and  instructions  were,  not  to  permit 
any  settlements  to  be  made  by  other  nations  on  the  continent  of  Spanish 
America. 

Though  trespasses  had  been  made  by  the  English  on  some  of  the 
islands  of  those  coasts,  which  had  given  rise  to  similar  complaints  havitiff 
been  made  to  the  court  of  London,  Spain  did  not  know  that  the  English 
had  endeavored  to  make  any  settlements  on  the  northern  part  of  the 
Southern  Ocean,  till  the  commanding  officer  of  a  Spanish  ship,  m  tlie 
usual  tour  of  the  coasts  of  California,  found  two  American  vessels  in  St. 
Laurence,  or  Nootka  Harbor,  where  he  was  going  for  provisions  and  stores. 
These  vessels  he  permitted  to  proceed  on  their  voyage,  it  appearing,  from 
their  papers,  that  they  were  driven  there  by  distress,  and  only  came  in 
to  refit. 

He  also  found  there  the  Tphigenia,  from  Macao,  under  Portuguese 
colors,  which  had  a  passport  from  the  governor;  and,  though  he  came 
manifestly  with  a  view  to  trade  there,  yet  the  Spanish  admiral,  when  lie 
saw  his  instructions,  gave  him  leave  to  depart,  upon  his  signing  an  en- 
gagement to  pay  the  value  of  the  vessel,  should  the  government  of  Mexico 
declare  it  a  lawful  prize. 

With  this  vessel  there  came  a  second,  which  the  admiral  detained, 
and,  a  few  days  after,  a  third,  named  the  Argonaut,  from  the  above- 
mentioned  place.  The  captain  of  this  latter  was  an  Englishman.  He 
came  not  only  to  trade,  but  brousjht  every  thing  with  him  proper  to  form 
a  settlement  there,  and  to  fortify  it.  This,  notwithstanding  the  remon- 
strances of  the  Spanish  admiral,  he  persevered  in,  and  was  detained,  to- 
gether with  his  vessel. 

After  him  came  a  fourth  English  vessel,  named  the  Princess  Royal, 
and  evidently  for  the  same  purposes.  She,  likewise,  was  detained,  and 
sent  to  Port  St.  Bias,  where  the  pilot  of  the  Argonaut  made  away  with 
himself. 

The  viceroy,  on  being  informed  of  these  particulars,  gave  orders  that 
the  captain  and  the  vessels  should  be  released,  and  that  they  should  have 
leave  to  refit,  without  declaring  them  a  lawful  prize;  and  th';  he  did,  on 


jf»f 


y',i\* 


D.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


423 


li;       ! 


e,  it  appearinjj,  from 
and  only  came  in 


account  of  the  ignorance  of  the  proprietors,  and  the  friendship  which 
subsisted  between  the  two  courts  of  London  and  Mndrid. 

He  also  gave  them  leave  to  return  to  Macao  with  their  cargo,  after 
capitulating  with  them  in  the  same  manner  as  with  the  Portuguese  cap- 
tain, and  leaving  the  affair  to  be  finally  determined  by  the  Count  de 
Revillagigedo,  his  successor,  who  also  gave  them  their  liberty. 

As  soon  as  the  court  of  Madrid  had  received  an  account  of  the 
detention  of  the  first  English  vessel  at  Nootka  Sound,  and  before  that  of 
the  second  arrived,  it  ordered  its  ambassador  at  London  to  make  a  report 
thereof  to  the  English  minister,  which  he  did  on  the  10th  of  February 
last,  and  to  require  that  the  parties  who  had  planned  these  expeditions 
should  be  punished,  in  order  to  deter  others  from  making  settlements  on 
territories  occupied  and  frequented  by  the  Spaniards  for  a  number  of  years. 

In  the  ambassador's  memorial,  mention  was  only  made  of  the  Spanish 
admiral  that  comnianded  the  present  armament,  having  visited  Nootka 
Sound  in  1774,  though  that  harbor  had  been  frequently  visited,  both 
before  and  since,  with  the  usual  forms  of  taking  possession.  These  forms 
were  repeated  more  particularly  in  the  years  1755  and  1779,  all  along  the 
coasts  as  far  as  Prince  William's  Sound;  and  it  was  these  acts  that  gave 
occasion  to  the  memorial  madrj  by  the  court  of  Russia,  as  has  been 
already  noticed. 

The  Spanish  ambassador  at  London  did  not  represent  in  this  memo- 
rial at  that  time,  that  the  right  of  Spain  to  these  coasts  was  conformable 
to  ancient  boundaries,  which  had  been  guarantied  by  England  at  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  IL,  deeming  it  to  be  unneces- 
sary ;  as  orders  had  been  given,  and  vessels  had  actually  been  seized  on 
those  coasts,  so  far  back  as  1G92. 

The  answer  thiit  the  English  ministry  gave,  on  the  26th  of  February, 
was,  that  they  had  not  as  yet  been  informed  of  the  facts  stated  by  the 
ambassador,  and  that  the  act  of  violmcc,  mentioned  in  his  memorial, 
necessarily  suspended  any  discussion  of  the  claims  therein,  till  an  adequate 
atonement  had  been  made  for  a  proceeding  so  injurious  to  Great  Britain. 

In  addition  to  this  haughty  language  of  the  British  minister,  he  fur- 
ther added,  that  the  ship  must  in  the  first  place  be  restored  ;  and  that, 
with  respect  to  any  future  stipuhitions,  it  would  be  necessary  to  wait  for  a 
more  full  detail  of  all  the  circumstances  of  this  affair. 

The  harsh  and  laconic  style  in  which  this  answer  wjis  given,  made  the 
court  of  Madrid  suspect  that  the  king  of  Great  Britain's  ministers  were 
forming  other  plans;  and  they  were  the  more  induced  to  think  so,  as 
there  were  reports  that  they  were  going  to  fit  out  two  fleets,  one  for  the 
Mediterranean  and  the  other  for  the  Baltic.  This,  of  course,  obliged 
Spain  to  increase  the  small  squadron  she  was  getting  ready  to  exercise 
her  marine. 

The  court  of  Spain  then  ordered  her  ambassador  at  London  to  pre- 


sent a  memorial  to  the  British   ministry, 


settmg 


forth  that,  though  the 


crown  of  Spain  had  an  indubitable  right  to  the  continent,  islands,  harbors, 
and  coasts,  of  that  part  of  the  world,  founded  on  treaties  and  immemorial 
possession,  yet,  as  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  had  released  the  vessels  that  were 
detained,  the  king  looked  upon  the  affair  as  concluded,  without  entering 
into  any  disputes  or  discussions  on  the  undouSted  rights  of  Spain  ;  and, 
desiring  to  give  a  proof  of  his  friendship  for  Great  Britain,  he  should  rest 
satisfied  if  she  ordered  that  her  subjects,  in  future,  respected  those  rights. 


J  if; 


■  III 


'  f  . 


m  \ 


¥'h'fi 


•JU 


424 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[a 


As  if  Spain,  in  this  answer,  had  laid  chiim  to  the  empire  of  that 
ocean,  though  she  only  spoke  of  what  belonged  to  her  by  treaties,  and  as 
if  it  had  been  so  grievous  an  oflfence  to  terminate  this  affair  by  restitution 
of  the  only  vessel  which  was  then  known  to  have  been  taken,  it  excited 
such  clamor  and  agitation  in  the  Parliament  of  England,  that  the  most 
vigorous  preparations  for  war  have  been  commenced ;  and  those  powers 
disinclined  to  peace  charge  Spain  with  designs  contrary  to  her  known 
principles  of  honor  and  probity,  as  well  as  to  the  tranquillity  of  Europe, 
which  the  Spanish  monarch  and  his  ministers  have  always  had  in  view. 

While  England  was  employed  in  making  the  greatest  armaments  and 
preparations,  that  court  made  answer  to  the  Spanish  ambassador,  (upon 
the  5th  of  May,)  that  the  acts  of  violence  committed  against  the  Briti.ih 
flag  "  rendered  it  necessary  for  the  sovereign  to  charge  his  minister  at 
Madrid  to  renew  the  remonstrances,  (being  the  answer  of  England 
already  mentioned,)  and  to  require  that  satisfaction  which  his  majesty 
thought  he  had  an  indisputable  right  to  demand." 

To  this  was  added  a  declaration  not  to  enter  formally  into  the  matter 
until  a  satisfactory  answer  was  obtained ;  "  and  at  the  same  time  the 
memorial  of  Spain  should  not  include  in  it  the  question  of  right; "  which 
formed  a  most  essential  part  of  the  discussion. 

The  British  administration  offer,  in  the  same  answer,  to  take  the 
most  effectual  and  pacific  measures,  that  the  English  subjects  shall  not 
act  "  against  the  just  and  acknowledged  rights  of  Spain,  but  that  they 
cannot  at  present  accede  to  the  pretensions  of  absolute  sovereignty,  com- 
merce, and  navigation,  which  appeared  to  be  the  principal  object  of  the 
memorials  of  the  ambassador ;  and  that  the  king  of  England  considers  it 
as  a  duty  incumbent  upon  him  to  protect  his  subjects  in  the  enjoyment  of 
the  right  of  continuing  their  fishery  in  the  Pacific  Ocean." 

If  this  pretension  is  found  to  trespass  upon  the  ancient  boundaries 
laid  down  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  II.,  and  guarantied  by  England 
in  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  as  Spain  believes,  it  appears  that  that  court  will 
have  good  reason  for  disputing  and  opposing  this  claim  ;  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  equity  of  the  British  administration  will  suspend  and 
restrict  it  accordingly. 

In  consequence  of  the  foregoing  answer,  the  charge  (Fqfairfs  from  the 
court  of  London  at  Madrid  insisted,  in  a  memorial  of  the  16th  of  May, 
on  restitution  of  the  vessel  detained  at  Nootka,  and  the  property  therein 
contained  ;  on  an  indemnification  for  the  losses  sustained,  and  on  a  repa- 
ration proportioned  to  the  injury  done  to  the  English  subjects  trading 
under  the  British  flag,  and  that  they  have  an  indisputable  right  to  the 
enjoyment  of  a  tree  and  uninterrupted  navigation,  commerce,  and  fishery; 
and  to  the  possession  of  such  establishments  as  they  should  form  with  the 
consent  of  the  natives  of  the  country,  not  previously  occupied  by  any  of 
the  European  nations. 

An  explicit  and  prompt  answer  was  desired  upon  this  head,  in  such 
terms  as  might  tend  to  calm  the  anxieties,  and  to  maintain  the  friendship, 
subsisting  between  the  two  courts. 

The  charge  d'affaires  having  observed  that  a  suspension  of  the 
Spanish  armaments  would  contribute  to  tranquillity,  upon  the  terms  to 
be  communicated  by  the  British  administration,  an  answer  was  made  by 
the  Spanish  administration,  that  the  king  was  sincerely  inclined  to  disarm 
upon  the  principles  of  reciprocity,  and  proportioned  to  the  circumstances 


kit  i'  ;  . 


D.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


425 


of  the  two  courts;  adding  tliat  the  court  of  Spain  was  actuated  by  the 
most  pacific  intentions,  and  a  desire  to  jTive  every  satisfaction  and  indem- 
nification, if  justice  was  not  on  their  side,  provided  England  did  as  much 
if  she  was  found  to  be  in  the  wrong. 

This  answer  must  convince  all  the  courts  of  Europe  that  the  conduct 
of  the  king  and  his  administration  is  consonant  to  the  invariable  principles 
of  justice,  truth,  and  peace. 

Eiu  CoNDE  DE  Florida  Blanca. 


V' ! ; 


(4.) 

Letter  from  Count  de  Fernan  Nunez,  the  Spanish  Ambassador  at  Paris, 

to  M.  de  Montmorin,  the  Secretary  of  the  Foreign  Department  of 

France. 

Paris,  June  IQth,  1790. 
Sir, 

I  have  the  honor  to  address  you,  with  this,  a  faithful  extract  of 
all  the  transactions  which  have  hitherto  passed  between  my  court  and  that 
of  London,  on  the  subject  of  the  detention  of  two  English  vessels,  which 
were  seized  in  the  Bay  of  St.  Lawrence,  or  Nootka,  situated  in  the  50th 
degree  to  the  north  of  California,  and  which  were  afterwards  taken  to  the 
port  of  St.  Bias. 

You  will  observe  by  this  relation, 

L  That,  by  the  treaties,  demarkations,  takings  of  possession,  and  the 
most  decided  acts  of  sovereignty  exercised  by  the  Spaniards  in  these 
stations,  from  the  reign  of  Charles  IL,  and  authorized  by  that  monarch  in 
1692,  the  original  vouchers  for  wiiich  shall  be  brought  forward  in  the 
course  of  the  negotiation,  all  the  coast  to  the  north  of  the  Western  Amer- 
ica, on  the  side  of  the  South  Sea,  as  far  as  beyond  what  is  called  Prince 
William's  Sound,  which  is  in  the  61st  degree,  is  acknowledged  to  belong 
exclusively  to  Spain. 

2.  That  the  court  of  Russia,  having  been  informed  of  this  extent  of 
our  boundary,  assured  the  king,  my  master,  without  the  least  delay,  of 
the  purity  of  its  intentions  in  this  respect,  and  added,  "  That  it  was 
extremely  sorry  that  the  repeated  orders  issued  to  prevent  the  subjects  of 
Russia  from  violating,  in  the  smallest  degree,  the  territory  belonging  to 
another  power,  should  have  been  disobeyed." 

3.  That  the  state  of  the  possessions  and  exclusive  commerce  on  the 
sea-coast  of  the  Southern  Ocean,  as  it  existed  in  the  time  of  Charles  IL, 
had  been  acknowledged  and  defined  anew  by  all  the  nations  of  Europe, 
and  more  particularly  by  England,  in  the  eighth  article  of  the  treaty 
of  Utrecht. 

4.  Thiit,  notwithstanding  the  just  title  he  has  to  a  preservation  of  his 
ancient  rights,  the  king,  my  master,  has  approved  of  the  conduct  of  the 
viceroy  of  Mexico,  who,  in  consequence  of  his  general  orders  and  instruc- 
tions for  the  preservation  of  peace  with  every  power,  took  upon  himself  to 
release  the  vessels  seized  in  the  port  of  Nootka,  upon  a  supposition  that 
the  conduct  of  their  captains  was  a  consequence  of  their  total  ignorance 
with  respect  to  the  legitimacy  of  the  rights  of  Spain  on  those  coasts. 

It  is  in  consequence  of  the  desire  of  his  Catholic  majesty  to  pre- 
serve peace  to  himself,  and  to  establish  the  general  tranquillity  of  Europe, 

54 


i'.i; 


)!' 


I  '  '- 
i.  ■  V 


wJ'M 


■»j 


v: 


i  1  I,  I 


'J  • 


f 


1 1 
ill 


■i.t 

*  I 

Hi 


426 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[D. 


that  he  has  taken  the  steps  you  will  observe  in  the  said  extract,  and  that 
he  has  commenced  an  amicable  and  direct  negotiation  with  England, 
which  he  will  finish  with  Mr.  Fitzherbert,  the  new  ambassador  sent 
from  that  court  to  the  court  of  Madrid.  We  are  in  hopes  that  the  con- 
sequences of  this  negotiation  will  be  favorable;  but,  at  the  same  time,  we 
must  employ  all  the  necessary  means  to  mcike  it  so. 

An  immediate  and  exact  accomplishment  of  the  treaty  signed  at  Paris, 
the  loth  of  August,  1761,  under  the  title  of  the  Family  Compact,  becomes 
an  indispensable  preliminary  to  a  successful  negotiation.  It  is  in  conse- 
quence of  the  absolute  necessity  which  Spain  finds  of  having  recourse  to 
the  succor  of  France,  that  the  king,  my  master,  orders  me  to  demand 
expressly  what  France  can  do  in  the  present  circumstances  to  assist 
Spain,  according  to  the  mutual  engagements  stipulated  by  the  treaties. 
His  Catholic  majesty  desires  that  the  armaments,  as  well  as  other  proper 
measures  to  fulfil  and  realize  these  sacred  engagements,  be  immediately 
put  in  execution.  He  charges  me  to  add  further,  that  the  present  state 
of  this  unforeseen  business  requires  a  very  speedy  determination,  and  that 
the  measures  which  the  court  of  France  shall  take  for  his  assistance,  shall 
be  so  active,  so  clear,  and  so  positive,  as  to  prevent  even  the  smallest 
ground  for  suspicion.  Otherwise  his  most  Christian  majesty  niust  not  be 
surprised  that  Spain  should  seek  other  friends  and  different  allies  amonsj 
all  the  powers  of  Europe,  without  excepting  any  one,  upon  whose  assist- 
ance she  can  rely  in  case  of  need.  The  ties  of  blood  and  personal  friend- 
ship which  unite  our  two  sovereigns,  and  particularly  the  reciprocal 
interest  which  exists  between  two  ntions  united  by  nature,  shall  be 
respected  in  all  new  arrangements,  aa  far  as  circumstances  will  permit. 

This,  sir,  is  the  positive  demand  which  I  am  obliged  to  make,  and  iu 
consequence  of  which  I  hope  his  most  Christian  majesty  will  immediately 
take  such  measr.'es  as  shall  seem  most  suitable,  in  the  present  circum- 
stances, to  satisfy  my  master,  in  an  object  so  interesting  and  important  to 
the  preservation  of  his  legal  rights,  and  the  honor  of  his  nation. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &c.. 

El  Conde  de  Feknan  Nunez. 


(5.) 

Letter  from  Mr.  JFitzherbert  to  Count  de  Florida  Blanca. 


Sir, 


Madrid,  [probably,]  June  16tA,  1790. 


In  compliance  with  your  excellency's  desire,  I  have  now  the 
honor  to  communicate  to  you,  in  writing,  what  I  observed  to  you  in  the 
conversation  we  had  the  day  before  yesterday. 

The  substance  of  these  observations  are  briefly  these :  — 
The  court  of  London  is  animated  with  the  most  sincere  desire  of 
terminating  the  difference  that  at  present  subsists  between  it  and  the 
court  of  Madrid,  relative  to  the  port  of  Nootka,  and  the  adjacent  lati- 
tudes, by  a  friendly  negotiation;  but  as  it  is  evident,  upon  the  clearest 
principles  of  justice  and  reason,  that  an  equal  negotiation  cannot  be 
opened  till  matters  are  put  in  their  original  state,  and  as  certain  acts  have 
been  committed  in  the  latitudes  in  question  by  vessels  belonging  to  the 


[D. 

aid  extract,  and  that 
ution  with  England, 
sw  ambassador  sent 
hopes  that  the  con- 
at  the  same  time,  we 

■eaty  signed  at  Paris, 
ly  Compact,  becomes 
itioii.     It  is  in  conse- 
>f  having  recourse  to 
rders  me  to  demand 
cumstances  to  assist 
lated  by  the  treiities. 
I  well  as  other  proper 
lents,  be  immediately 
that  the  present  stiite 
itermination,  and  that 
)r  his  assistance,  shall 
3nt  even  the  smallest 
1  majesty  must  not  be 
different  allies  among 
le,  upon  whose  assist- 
d  and  personal  friend- 
ularly  the   reciprocal 

by   nature,  shall  be 

imstanccs  will  permit. 

iged  to  m:ike,  and  in 

jesty  will  immediately 

the  present  circum- 

tinw  and  important  to 

his  nation. 

Fernan  Nunez. 


D.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


427 


lorida  Blanca. 

jly,]  June  16tA,  1790. 

■sire,  I  have  now  the 
bserved  to  you  in  the 

lese :  — 

ost  sincere  desire  of 
between  it  and  the 
and  the  adjacent  lati- 
3nt,  upon  the  clearest 
legotiation  cannot  be 
id  as  certain  acts  have 
ssels  belonging  to  the 


royal  marine  of  Spain,  against  several  British  vessels,  without  any  re- 
prisals having  been  made,  of  any  sort,  on  the  part  of  Britain,  that  power  is 
perfectly  in  the  right  to  insist,  as  a  preliminary  condition,  upon  a  prompt 
and  suitable  reparation  for  these  acts  of  violence ;  and  in  consequence  of 
this  principle,  the  practice  of  nations  has  limited  such  right  of  reparation 
to  three  articles,  viz.,  the  restitution  of  the  vessels  —  a  full  indemnification 
for  the  losses  sustained  by  the  parties  injured  —  and,  finally,  satisfaction  to 
the  sovereign  for  the  insult  offered  to  his  flag.  So  that  it  is  evident  that 
the  actual  demands  of  my  court,  far  from  containing  any  thing  to  preju- 
dice the  rights  or  the  dignity  of  his  Catholic  majesty,  amount  to  no  more, 
in  fact,  than  what  is  constantly  done  by  Great  Britain  herself,  as  well  as 
every  other  maritime  power,  in  similar  circumstances.  —  Finally,  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  satisfaction  which  the  court  of  London  exacts  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  on  which  your  excellency  appears  to  desire  some  explanation,  I 
am  authorized,  sir,  to  assure  you,  that  if  his  Catholic  majesty  consents  to 
make  a  declaration  in  his  name,  bearing  in  substance  that  he  had  deter- 
mined to  offer  to  his  Britannic  majesty  a  just  and  suitable  satisfaction 
for  the  insult  offered  to  his  flag,  —  such  offer,  joined  to  a  promise  of 
making  restitution  of  the  vessels  captured,  and  to  indemnify  the  pro- 
prietors, under  the  conditions  specified  in  the  official  letter  of  Mr.  Merry 
on  the  IGth  of  May,  will  be  regarded  by  his  Britannic  majesty  as  consti- 
tuting in  itself  the  satisfaction  demanded;  and  his  said  majesty  will  accept 
of  it  as  such  by  a  counter-declaration  on  his  part.  I  have  to  add,  that  as 
it  appears  uncertain  if  the  vessels  the  North- West,  an  American  vessel, 
and  the  Iphigenia,  had  truly  a  right  to  enjoy  the  protection  of  the  British 
flag,  the  king  will  with  pleastire  consent  that  an  examination  of  this  ques- 
tion, as  well  as  that  relative  to  the  just  amount  of  the  losses  sustained 
by  his  subjects,  may  be  left  to  the  determination  of  commissioners  to 
be  named  by  the  two  courts. 

Having  thus  recapitulated  to  your  excellency  the  heads  of  what  I 
observed  to  you  in  conversation,  I  flatter  myself  you  will  weigh  the  whole 
in  your  mind,  with  that  spirit  of  equity  and  moderation  which  character- 
izes you,  that  I  may  be  in  a  condition  of  sending  to  my  court,  as  soon  as 
possible,  a  satisfactory  answer  as  to  the  point  contained  in  the  official 
paper  sent  to  Mr.  Merry,  on  the  4th  of  the  month,  and  which,  for  the 
reasons  I  have  mentioned,  cannot  be  regarded  by  his  Britannic  majesty 
as  fulfilling  his  just  expectations. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &c., 

Allevne  Fitzherbert. 

(6.) 

Letter  from  Count  de  Florida  Blanca  to  Mr.  Fitzherbert. 

Madrid,  June  18tA,  1790. 

You  will  pardon  me,  sir,  that  I  cannot  give  my  assent  to  the  principles 
laid  down  in  your  last  letter ;  as  Spain  maintains,  on  the  most  solid 
grounds,  that  the  detention  of  the  vessels  was  made  in  a  port,  upon  a 
coast,  or  in  a  bay,  of  Spanish  America,  the  commerce  and  navigation  of 
which  belonged  exclusively  to  Spain,  by  treaties  with  all  nations,  even 
England  herself. 


I),     i 


m 


■'\  \ 


!■      I 


ii  I 


K  t] 


M 


,!• 


F      ! 


i' ' 


h(?  ' 


I  I 


.. 


Hi 


428 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[D. 


The  principles  laid  down  cannot  be  adapted  to  the  case.  The 
vessels  detained  attempted  to  make  an  establishment  at  a  port  where 
they  found  a  nation  actually  settled,  the  Spanish  commander  at  Nootka 
having,  previous  to  their  detention,  made  the  most  amicable  represen- 
tations to  the  aggressors  to  desist  from  their  purpose. 

Your  excellency  will  also  permit  me  to  lay  before  you,  that  it  is  not 
at  all  certain  that  the  vessels  detained  navigated  under  the  British  flag, 
although  they  were  English  vessels;  there  having  been  reason  to  believe 
that  they  navigated  under  the  protection  of  Portuguese  passports,  fur- 
nished them  by  the  governor  of  Macao  as  commercial  vessels,  and  not 
belonging  to  the  royal  marine.  Your  excellency  will  add  to  these  rea- 
sons,  that,  by  the  restitution  of  these  vessels,  their  furniture  and  cargoes, 
or  their  value,  in  consequence  of  the  resolution  adopted  by  the  viceroy  of 
Mexico,  which  has  been  approved  of  by  the  king,  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
every  thing  is  placed  in  its  original  state,  the  object  your  excellency  aims 
at  —  nothing  remaining  unsettled  but  the  indemnification  of  losses,  and 
satisfaction  for  the  insult,  which  shall  also  be  regulated  when  evidence 
shall  be  given  what  insult  has  been  committed,  which  hitherto  has  not 
been  sufliciently  explained. 

However,  that  a  quarrel  may  not  arise  about  words,  and  that  two 
nations  friendly  to  each  other  may  not  be  exposed  to  the  calamities  of 
war,  I  have  to  inform  you,  sir,  by  order  of  the  king,  that  his  majesty 
consents  to  make  the  declaration  which  your  excellency  proposes  in  your 
letter,  and  will  offer  to  his  Britannic  majesty  a  just  and  suitable  satisfac- 
tion  for  the  insult  offered  to  the  honor  of  his  flag,  provided  that  to  these 
are  added  either  of  the  following  explanations: 

1.  That,  in  offering  such  satisfaction,  the  insult  and  the  satisfaction 
shall  be  fully  settled,  both  in  form  and  substance,  by  a  judgment  to  be 
pronounced  by  one  of  the  kings  of  Europe,  whom  the  king,  my  master, 
leaves  wholly  to  the  choice  of  his  Britannic  majesty ;  for  it  is  suflicient  to 
the  Spanish  monarch  that  a  crowned  head,  from  full  information  of  the 
facts,  shall  decide  as  he  thinks  just. 

2.  That,  in  offering  a  just  and  suitable  satisfaction,  care  shall  be 
taken  that,  in  the  progress  of  the  negotiation  to  be  opened,  no  facts  be 
admitted  as  true  but  such  as  can  be  fully  established  by  Great  Britain 
with  regard  to  the  insult  offered  to  her  flag. 

3.  That  the  said  satisfaction  shall  be  given  on  condition  that  no 
inference  be  drawn  therefrom  to  affect  the  rights  of  Spain,  nor  of  the 
right  of  exacting  from  Great  Britain  an  equivalent  satisfaction,  if  it  shall 
be  found,  in  the  course  of  negotiation,  that  the  king  has  a  right  to 
demand  satisfaction,  for  the  aggression  and  usurpation  made  on  the 
Spanish  territory,  contrary  to  subsisting  treaties. 

Your  excellency  will  be  pleased  to  make  choice  of  either  of  these 
three  explanations  to  the  declaration  your  excellency  proposes,  or  all  the 
three  together,  and  to  point  out  any  difficulty  that  occurs  to  you,  that 
it  may  be  obviated ;  or  any  other  mode  that  may  tend  to  promote  the 
peace  which  we  desire  to  establish. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &c., 

El  Conde  de  Florida  Blanca. 


[D. 

the  case.  The 
it  at  a  port  where 
mander  at  Nootka 
amicable  represen- 

you,  that  it  is  not 
er  the  British  flag, 
n  reason  to  believe 
lese  passports,  fur- 
al  vessels,  and  not 
1  add  to  these  rea- 
niture  and  cargoes, 
ed  by  the  viceroy  of 

the  sake  of  peace, 

four  excellency  aims 

ation  of  losses,  and 

ated  when  evidence 

ich  hitherto  has  not 

ords,  and  that  two 
to  the  calamities  of 
ng,  that  his  majesty 
ncy  proposes  in  your 
and  suitable  satisfac- 
rovided  that  to  these 

and  the  satisfaction 
by  a  judgment  to  be 
the  king,  my  master, 
;  for  it  is  sufficient  to 
jU  information  of  the 

iction,  care  shall  be 
;  opened,  no  facts  be 
hed  by  Great  Britain 

»n  condition  that  no 
of  Spain,  nor  of  the 

satisfaction,  if  it  shall 
king  has  a  right  to 

'pation   made   on  the 

;e  of  either  of  these 
cy  proposes,  or  all  the 
t  occurs  to  you,  that 
'  tend  to  promote  the 


;  Florida  Blanca. 


D] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


429 


(7.) 


Sjtanish  Declaration,   and  British   Counter-Declaration,  exchanged  at 
Madrid  on  the  ^ith  of  July,  1790. 

DECLARATION. 

His  Britannic  m.ijesty  having  complained  of  the  capture  of  certain 
vessels  belonging  to  his  subjects  in  the  port  of  Nootka,  situated  on  the 
north-west  coast  of  America,  by  an  officer  in  the  service  of  the  king,  —  the 
undersigned  counsellor  and  principal  secretary  of  state  to  his  majesty, 
being  thereto  duly  authorized,  declares,  in  the  name  and  by  the  order  of 
his  said  majesty,  that  he  is  willing  to  give  satisfaction  to  his  Britannic 
majesty  for  the  injury  of  which  he  has  complained,  fully  persuaded  that 
his  said  Britannic  majesty  would  act  in  the  same  manner  towards  the 
king,  under  similar  circumstances :  and  his  majesty  further  engages  to 
make  full  restitution  of  all  the  British  vessels  which  were  captured  at 
Nootka,  and  to  indemnify  the  parties  interested  in  those  vessels,  for  the 
losses  which  they  shall  have  sustained,  as  soon  as  the  amount  thereof 
shall  have  been  ascertained. 

It  being  understood  that  this  declaration  is  not  to  preclude  or  preju- 
dice the  ulterior  discussion  of  any  right  which  his  majesty  may  claim  to 
form  an  exclusive  establishment  at  the  port  of  Nootka. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  signed  this  declaration,  and  sealed  it  with 
the  seal  of  my  arms.     At  Madrid,  the  24th  of  July,  1790. 

(l.  s.)  Signed, 

Le  Comte  de  Florida  Blanca. 

counter-declaration. 

His  Catholic  majesty  having  declared  that  he  was  willing  to  give 
satisfaction  for  the  injury  done  to  the  king,  by  the  capture  of  certain 
vessels  belonging  to  his  subjects,  in  the  bay  of  Nootka,  and  the  Count  de 
Florida  Blanca  having  signed,  in  the  name  and  by  the  order  of  h*s  Catho- 
lic majesty,  a  declaration  to  this  effect,  and  by  which  his  saia  majesty 
likewise  engages  to  make  full  restitution  of  the  vessels  so  captured,  and 
to  indemnify  the  parties  interested  in  those  vessels  for  the  losses  they  shall 
have  sustained, — the  undersigned  ambassador  extraordinary  and  plenipo- 
tentiary of  his  majesty  to  the  Catholic  king,  being  thereto  duly  and 
expressly  authorized,  accepts  the  said  declaration  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
and  declares  that  his  majesty  will  consider  this  declaration,  together  with 
the  performance  of  the  engagements  contained  therein,  as  a  full  and  entire 
satisfaction  for  the  injury  of  which  his  majesty  has  complained. 

The  undersigned  declares,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  is  to  be  under- 
stood, that  neither  the  said  declaration  signed  by  Count  Florida  Blanca, 
nor  the  acceptance  thereof  by  the  undersigned,  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
is  to  preclude  or  prejudice,  in  any  respect,  the  right  which  his  majesty 
may  claim  to  any  establishment  which  his  subjects  may  have  formed,  or 
should  be  desirous  of  forming  in  future,  at  the  said  bay  of  Nootka. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  signed  this  counter-declaration,  and  sealed 
it  with  the  seal  of  my  arms.     At  Madrid,  the  24th  of  July,  1790. 

(l.  8.)  Signed, 

Alleyne  Fitzherbert. 


1 1  i 


I 


•         ■',•:. 

*|'' 

ik.1. 

430 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


b. 


S'    'J  i> 


(8.) 

Decree  of  the  National  Convention  of  France,  on  the  Subject  of  the 
Application  of  the  King  of  Spain  for  Aid  in  resisting  the  Demands 
of  Great  Britain.     Paris,  August  iith,  1790. 

Tub  National  Assembly,  deliberating  on  the  formal  proposition  of  the 
king,  contained  in  the  letter  uf  the  minister,  dated  the  1st  of  August, 

Decree,  that  the  king  be  supplicated  to  make  known  to  his  Catholic 
majesty,  that  the  French  nation,  in  taking  all  proper  measures  to  maintain 
peace,  will  observe  the  defensive  and  commercial  engagements  which  the 
French  government  have  previously  contracted  with  Spain. 

They  further  decree  that  his  majesty  shall  be  requested  immediately 
to  charge  his  ambassador  in  Spain  to  negotiate  with  the  minister  of  his 
Catholic  majesty  to  the  effect  of  perpetuating  and  renewing,  by  a  national 
treaty,  the  ties  so  useful  to  the  two  nations,  and  to  fix  with  precision  and 
clearness  every  stipulation  which  shall  be  strictly  conformable  to  the 
views  of  general  peace,  and  to  the  principles  of  justice,  which  will  be 
forever  the  policy  of  the  French. 

The  National  Assembly  further  taking  into  consideration  the  arma- 
ments of  the  different  nations  of  Europe,  their  progressive  increase, 
and  the  safety  of  the  French  colonies  and  commerce,  decree,  that  the 
king  shall  be  prayed  to  give  orders  that  the  French  marine  force  in 
commission  shall  be  increased  to  forty-five  ships  of  the  line,  with  a 
proportionate  number  of  frigates  and  other  vessels. 


E. 


Documents    relative    to   the    Discovery   of    the    Columbia 
River   by    the    Spaniards    and    the    Americans. 

Extract  from  the  Report  of  Captain  Bruno  Heceta,  commanding  the 
Spanish  Corvette  Santiago,  in  a  Voyage  along  the  North-West  Coast 
of  America,  in  1775,  containing  the  Particulars  of  his  Discovery  of 
the  Mouth  of  the  Great  River,  since  called  the  Columbia* 


original. 

El  dia  diez  y  siete,  [de  agosto,  1775,]  recorri  la  costa,  hasta  el  grado 
cuarenta  y  seis;  y  vi  que  desde  la  latitud  de  cuarenta  y  siete  grades  y 

*  From  the  original  Report,  proserved  in  the  Hydrographieal  Office  at  Madrid, 
copied  under  the  supervision  of  Don  Martin  Fernandes  de  Navarate,  the  chief  of 
that  department,  whose  certificate  in  proof  of  its  authenticity  is  appended  to  the 
copy.  —  See  p.  120  of  this  History. 


t      .  II 

.1  I 


B.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


431 


cuarenta  minutes,  hasta  la  de  cuarenta  y  seis  grados  cuareuta  minutos, 
corria  al  angulo  de  diez  y  echo,  en  el  segundo  cuadrante ;  y  desde  esta 
graduacion,  hasta  la  de  cuarenta  y  seis,  y  cuatro,  al  angulo  de  doce  del 
mismo  cuadrante,  y  con  la  misma  sonda,  playa  y  Irondosidad,  y  algunos 
islotes,  que  la  de  los  dias  anteriores. 

La  tarde  de  este  dia,  descuhri  una  grande  bahia,  que  la  nombre  de 
la  Asuncion ;  cuya  iigura  representa  el  piano  que  va  inserto  en  este  diario ; 
su  latitud  y  amplitud  esta  sujeta  a  las  demarcaciones  mas  exactas  que 
ofrece  la  thcorica  y  practica  de  esta  carrera. 

Las  latitudes  de  los  cabos  mas  salientes  de  dicha  bahia,  particularmente 
la  del  Norte,  esta  calculada  por  la  observacion  de  aquel  dia. 

Habiendula  llegado  a  Hamiuear  a  lus  seis  de  la  tarde,  y  cuasi  situada  la 
fragata  entre  los  dos  Cabos,  sonde  en  veinte  y  cuatro  brazas,  y  eran  tan 
rapidos  los  remolinos  de  liis  corrientes,  que  no  obstante  haber  esforzado 
de  vela,  fue  trabajoso  el  salir  6  seperarse  del  Cabo  de  mas  al  Norte,  que 
as  hacia  la  parte  donde  mas  se  inclinaba  la  corriente,  que  tambien  tenia 
su  direccion  al  este,  y  con  el  dependia  del  flujo  de  la  marea. 

Estas  corrientes  y  hervidero  de  aguas  me  ban  hecho  crcer  sea  desem- 
bocadurade  algun  gran  rio  6  paso  para  algun  otro  mar. 

Si  la  latitud  en  que  se  situo  la  bahia  no  tubiera  la  constante  prueba  de 
la  observacion  de  aquel  dia  creeria  sin  dificultad  era  este  el  paso  descubierto 
el  ano  de  1592  por  Juan  de  Fuca,  que  lo  situan  las  cartas  entre  los  grados 
de  cuarenta  y  ocho  grados  y  cuarenta  y  siete  de  latitud,  donde  no  me 
queda  duda,  no  se  halla  este  estrecho,  por  haber  estado  fondeado  el  dia 
ciitorce  de  Julio,  en  el  centro  de  estas  latitudes,  y  registrado  varias  veces 
todas  aqiiellas  inmediaciones. 

No  obstante  la  mucha  diferencia  de  la  situacion  de  esta  bahia,  y  el 
paso  que  cita  de  Fuca,  se  mi  hace  poco  dificultoso  el  dudar,  si  es  uno 
mismo ;  porque  he  observado,  hay  igual  variedad  6  mayor,  en  las  latitudes 
de  otros  cabos  y  puertos  de  esta  costa,  couio  los  citare  a  su  tiempo ;  y  en 
todos,  es  mayor  la  latitud  en  que  los  fijan,  que  la  que  tiene  sus  verdaderas 
sitiiacioncs. 

El  no  haber  entrado  y  fondeado  en  el  puerto,  que  parece  forma  la  que 
en  el  piano  supongo  isla,  no  obstante  los  vivos  deseos  que  me  asisten,  fue 
porque,  habiendo  tornado  parecer  del  segundo  Capitan  y  practico  Don 
Juan  Perez,  y  piloto  Don  Christoval  Revilla,  insistieron  en  que  no  debia 
exccutar,  porque,  de  dejar  caer  el  ii.icla,  no  teniamos  gente  con  que 
ziirparla,  y  atender  a  la  faena,  que  de  esto  rosulta.  Hecho  cargo  yo,  de 
estas  razones,  y  que  para  hacer  ruinbo  al  fondeadero,  me  era  preciso 
hechar  la  lancha  al  agua  (unica  embarcacion  menor  que  tenia)  esquifarla 
con  catorce  individuos  de  la  tripulacion,  lo  menos,  y  que  sin  estos  no 
podia  empefiarme,  notando  al  mismo  tiempo,  era  tarde,  resolvi  virar  para 
fuera ;  y  hallandome  a  la  distancia  de  tres  6  cuatro  leguas,  hice  capa. 
Experimente  esta  noche  vivas  corrientes  al  S.  O.  que  me  imposibilitaron 
intentar  recalar  en  esta  bahia,  la  manana  del  dia  siguiente,  por  estar 
muy  sotavento. 

Tambien  estas  me  hicieron  consentir,  en  que  en  el  reflujo,  salia  de 
aquella  bahia,  mucha  cantidad  de  aguas. 

Los  dos  Cabos  que  cito  en  el  piano,  de  San  Roque  y  del  Frondoso 
corren  al  angulo  de  diez  grados  del  tercer  cuadrante ;  ambos  son  esoar- 
pados  de  tierra  colorada  con  poca  elevacion. 

El  dia  dies  y  ocho,  demarque  el  Cabo  Frondoso  que  cito,  con  otro  que 


ti    I 


W 


432 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


i 


fE. 


le  piise  per  nombre  de  Falcon,  situado  en  la  latitud  de  ciiarcntn  y  oinco 
grados  cuarentn  y  tres  miniitos;  y  corri:i  nl  an^ulo  de  veiiite  y  do«  grados 
del  tercer  cuadraiite ;  y  dcsdc  estc  cubu  ^iguc  la  cosla,  al  angolo  dc  ciiicu 
grados,  del  segundo  cuadrante. 

Esta  es  de  tierra  montuosa,  no  may  elevada,  ni  tan  poblada  de  arboledn, 
conio  la  que  induce  Ioh  gradus  desde  la  latitud  de  cuarenta  y  ocho,  treiuta, 
hasta  los  cuarenta  y  seis. 

En  la  sonda,  encontre  notable  diforcncia;  pues  a  distancia  de  siete 
leguas,  sonde  en  ochenta  y  cuatro  brazas,  y  acercandome  a  la  costa,  no 
halle  algunas  veces  sonda ;  lo  que  me  ha  hecho  creer,  hay  algunos  placeres 
6  bancos  de  arena,  sobre  estas  costas,  pue»  tambicn  el  color  de  las  aguas 
lo  denota  asi.  En  algunas  partes,  acaba  la  costa  en  play  a,  y  en  utros 
acantilada. 

Una  montana  plana,  que  la  llame  de  3Icsa,  hara  que  qualquier  navegante 
86  hag.t  capaz  Je  la  situacion  del  Cabo  Falcon,  aunquc  no  haya  tenido 
observacion;  por  que  esta  en  la  latitud  de  cuarenta  y  cinco  veinte  y  ocho 
minutos,  y  se  deja  ver  de  lejos  por  ser  mcdianamente  alta. 


,11.1  V 


TRANSLATION. 

On  the  17th  [of  August,  1775]  I  sailed  along  the  coast  to  the  46th 
degree,  and  observed  that,  from  the  latitude  of  47  degrees  4  minutes 
to  that  of  46  degrees  40  minutes,  it  runs  in  the  angle  of  18  degrees  of  the 
second  quadrant,*  and  from  that  latitude  to  4(5  degrees  4  minutes,  in  the 
angle  of  1'2  degrees  of  the  same  ({uadr  mt ;  the  soundings,  the  shore,  the 
wooded  character  of  the  country,  and  the  little  islands,  being  the  same  as 
on  the  preceding  days. 

In  the  evening  of  this  day,  I  discovered  a  large  bay,  to  which  I  gave 
the  name  of  Assumption  liaif,  and  of  which  a  plan  will  be  found  in  this 
journal.  Its  latitude  and  longitude  are  determined  according  to  the  most 
exact  means  afforded  by  theory  and  practice. 

The  latitudes  of  the  two  most  prominent  capes  of  this  bay,  especially 
of  the  northern  one,  are  calculated  from  the  observations  of  this  day.t 

Having  arrived  opposite  this  bay  at  six  in  the  evening,  and  plficed  the 
ship  nearly  midway  between  the  two  capes,  I  sounded,  and  found  bottom 
in  twenty-four  brazas  ;\  the  currents  and  eddies  were  so  strong  that, 
notwithstanding  a  prer-s  of  sail,  it  was  difficult  to  get  out  clear  of  the  north- 
ern cape,  towards  which  the  current  ran,  though  its  direction  was  east- 
ward, in  consequence  of  the  tide  being  at  flood. 

These  currents  and  eddies  of  the  water  caused  me  to  believe  that  the 
place  is  the  mouth  of  some  great  river,  or  of  some  passage  to  another  sea. 


*  The  card  of  the  Spanish  compass  was  formerly  divided  into  four  quadrants,  on 
which  the  points  were  counted  by  degrees. 

t  In  the  table  accompanyinff  the  report,  trie  position  of  the  vessel  is  given  on  the 
17th  of  Atigust,  as  in  latitude  of  4(J  degrees  17  minutes,  which  is  within  one  minute  of 
the  latitude  of  Cape  Disappointment,  (the  Cnnc  San  Hot/ur  of  Heceta,)  the  northern 
point,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Columbia  ;  the  longitude  is  made  15  decrees  38  minutes 
west  of  Cape  San  Lucas,  the  southern  extremity  of  California,  which  is  about  a 
degree  and  a  half  too  far  west,  yet  remarkably  near  the  truth,  considering  that 
the  Spanish  navigator  was  obliged  to  depend  entirely  on  the  dead  reckoning  for 
his  longitudes. 

t  The  Spanish  braza,  or  fathom,  contains  six  Spanish  feet,  nearly  equal  to  five  feet 
nine  inches  English. 


'i  \ 


I   I 
I 


into  four  quadrants,  on 


E.] 


PHOOFS    AND    ILLUSTUATIONS. 


433 


Had  I  not  been  'ertnin  of  the  latitude  of  this  bay,  from  my  ohservationa 
of  the  same  day,  I  iniirht  easily  luive  believed  it  to  be  the  p;ist*a|;re  dis- 
covered by  Juan  de  Fuca,  in  IM'2,  which  is  placed  on  the  clmrts  between 
the  47th  and  the  48th  degrees;  wiiere  1  am  certain  that  no  such  strait 
exists;  because  1  anchored  on  the  14th  of  July  midway  between  these 
two  latitudes,  and  carefully  examined  every  thing  around. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  difference  betwiun  the  position  of  this  bay 
and  the  passage  mentioned  by  De  Fuca,  I  have  little  difficulty  in  con- 
ceiving that  they  may  be  the  same,  having  observed  equal  or  greater 
differences  in  the  latitudes  of  other  capes  and  ports  on  this  coast,  as  I 
shall  show  at  its  proper  time ;  and  in  all  cases  the  latitudes  thus  assigned 
are  higher  than  the  real  ones. 

I  did  not  enter  and  anchor  in  this  port,  which  in  my  plan  I  suppose 
to  be  formed  by  an  island,  notwithstanding  my  strong  desire  to  do  so; 
because,  having  consulted  the  second  captain,  Don  Juan  Perez,  and  the 
pilot,  Don  Christot^al  Revilla,  they  insisted  that  I  ought  not  to  attempt  it, 
as,  if  we  let  go  the  anchor,  we  should  not  have  men  enough  to  get  it  up, 
and  to  attend  to  the  other  operations  which  would  be  thereby  rendered 
necessary.  Considering  this,  and  also  that,  in  order  to  reach  the  anchor- 
age, I  should  be  obliged  to  lower  my  long-boat,  (the  only  boat  that  I  had,) 
and  to  man  it  with  at  least  fourt(  '?n  of  the  crew,  as  I  could  not  manage  with 
fewer,  and  also  that  it  was  then  late  in  the  dciy,  I  resolved  to  put  out ;  and 
at  the  distance  of  three  or  four  leagues  I  lay  to.  In  the  course  of  that 
night,  I  experienced  heavy  currents  to  the  south-west,  which  made  it 
impossible  for  me  to  enter  the  bay  on  the  following  morning,  as  I  was 
far  to  leeward. 

These  currents,  however,  convinced  me  that  a  great  quantity  of  water 
rushed  from  this  bay  on  the  ebb  of  the  tide. 

The  two  capes  which  I  name  in  my  plan  Cape  San  Roque  *  and  Cape 
Frondoso,i  lie  in  the  angle  of  ten  degrees  of  the  third  quadrant.  They 
are  both  faced  with  red  earth,  and  are  of  little  elevation. 

On  the  ISth,  I  observed  Cape.  Frondoso,  with  another  cape,  to  which 
I  gave  the  name  of  Cape  Falcon,^  situated  in  the  latitude  of  45  degrees 
43  minutes,  and  they  lay  at  the  angle  of  22  degrees  of  the  third  quadrant, 
and  from  the  last-mentioned  cape  I  traced  the  coast  running  in  the  angle 
of  five  degrees  of  the  second  quadrant. 

This  land  is  mountainous,  but  not  very  high,  nor  so  well  wooded  as 
that  lying  between  the  latitudes  of  48  degrees  30  minutes,  and  40  degrees. 

On  sounding,  I  found  great  differences :  at  the  distance  of  7  leagues, 
I  got  bcttom  !it  84  brazaa  ;  Rud  nearer  the  coast,  I  sometimes  found  no 
bottom;  from  which  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  there  are  reefs  or 
shoals  on  these  coasts,  which  is  also  shown  by  the  color  of  the  water.  In 
some  places,  the  coast  presents  a  beach,  in  others  it  is  rocky. 

A  flat-topped  mountain,  which  I  named  The  Table, '^w'lW  enable  any  nav- 
igator to  know  the  position  of  Cape  Falcon  without  observing  it ;  as  it  is 
in  the  latitude  of  45  degrees  28  minutes,  and  may  be  seen  at  a  great  dis- 
tance, being  somewhat  elevated. 


,  nearly  equal  to  five  feet 


*  Cape  Disappointment. 
t  Cape  Adama. 

55 


t  Cape  Lookout. 

§  Charke's  Point  of  View. 


11-      ,< 


t 


■,  1 


I'l 


i'lU' 


434 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


n. 


if 


(2.) 


Extract  from  the  Second  Volume  of  the  Log-Book  of  the  Ship  Columbia, 
of  Boston,  commanded  by  Robert  (jiruy,  containing  the  Account  of 
her  Entrance  into  the  Columbia  River,  in  May,  179il,* 

May  7th,  1702,  A.  M.  — Being  within  six  miles  of  the  land,  saw  an 
entrance  in  the  aiinie,  whicli  iiad  a  very  good  appearance  of  a  harbor; 
lowered  away  the  jolly-boat,. and  went  in  search  of  an  anchoring-place, 
the  ship  standing  to  and  fro,  with  a  very  strong  weatlier  current.  At  one, 
P.  M.,  the  boat  returned,  having  found  no  place  where  the  ship  could 
anchor  with  safety;  made  sail  on  the  ship;  stood  in  for  the  shore.  We 
soon  saw,  from  our  mast-head,  u  passage  in  between  the  sand-l)arH.  At 
half  past  three,  bore  away,  and  ran  in  north-east  by  east,  having  from  four 
to  eight  fathoms,  sandy  bottom ;  and,  as  we  drew  in  ncs-irer  l)etween  the 
bars,  had  from  ten  to  thirteen  fathtims,  having  a  very  strong  tide  of  ebb  to 
stem.  Many  canoes  came  alongside.  At  five,  IV  M.,  came  to  in  live 
fathoms  water,  sandy  bottom,  in  a  safe  harbor,  well  sheltered  from  the 
sea  by  long  sand-bars  and  spits.  Our  latitude  observed  tliis  day  was 
46  degrees  ,W  minutes  north. 

May  lOth.  —  Fresh  breezes  and  pleasant  weather;  many  natives  along- 
side; at  noon,  all  the  canoes  left  us.  At  one,  P.  M.,  began  to  luimour, 
took  up  the  best  bower-anchor,  and  hove  short  on  the  small  bower-anchor. 
At  half  past  four,  (being  high  water,)  hove  up  the  anchor,  and  came  to 
sail  and  a  beating  down  the  harbor. 

3Iay  llth.  —  At  half  past  .seven,  we  were  out  clear  of  the  bars,  and 
directed  our  course  to  the  southward,  along  shore.  At  eight,  P.  M.,  the 
entrance  of  BulBnch's  Harbor  bore  north,  distance  four  miles;  the  .south- 
ern extremity  of  the  land  bore  south-south-east  half  east,  and  the  northern 
north-north-west ;  sent  up  the  main-top-gallant-yard  and  set  all  sail.  At 
four,  A.  M.,  saw  the  entrance  of  our  desired  port  bearing  eiist-soutli-cast, 
distance  six  leagues;  in  steering  sails,  and  hauled  our  wind  in  shore.  At 
eight,  A.  M.,  being  a  little  to  windward  of  the  entrance  of  the  Harbor, 
bore  away,  and  run  in  east-north-east  between  the  breakers,  having  from 
five  to  seven  fathoms  of  water.  When  we  were  over  the  bar,  we  found 
this  to  be  a  large  river  of  fresh  water,  up  which  we  steered.  Many  canoes 
came  alongside.  At  one,  P.  M.,  came  to  with  the  small  bower,  in  ten 
fathoms,  black  and  white  sand.  The  entrance  between  the  bars  bore 
west-south-west,  distant  ten  miles;  the  north  side  of  the  river  a  half  mile 
distant  from  the  ship;  the  south  side  of  the  same  two  and  a  half  miles' 
distance;  a  village  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  west  by  north,  distant 
three  quarters  of  a  mile.  Vast  numbers  of  natives  came  alongside; 
people  employed  in  pumping  the  salt  water  out  of  our  water-casks,  in 
order  to  fill  with  fresh,  while  the  ship  floated  in.     So  ends. 

May  12</«. — Many  natives  alongside;    noon,  fresh  wind;   let  go  the 

•  This  extract  was  made  in  1816,  by  Mr.  Bulfinch,  of  Boston,  o-.e  of  the  owners  of 
the  Columbia,  ."rom  the  second  volume  of  the  log-book,  whic  was  then  in  the  pos- 
session of  Captain  Gray's  heirs,  but  has  since  disappeared.  It  has  been  frequently 
published  in  newspapers  and  reports  to  Congress,  accompanied  by  the  affidavit  of  Mr. 
Bulfinch  to  its  exactness.  —  See  p.  236  of  the  History. 


••*: 


E.1 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS, 


d.'Jj 


the  Skip  Columbia^ 
ff  the  Account  of 

f  the  land,  snw  an 
•;mce  of  a  harbor; 
II  aiiclioriii;{-|)luce, 
'  current.  At  one, 
[>re  tlie  uhip  could 
l(»r  the  sliore.  We 
tlie  saiKl-barH.  At 
<t,  haviii<T  Iroin  four 
lu'arer  between  the 
troiijj  tide  of  ebb  to 
A.,  came  to  in  five 
sheltered  from  the 
erved  tliis  day  was 

inniiy  natives  along- 
,  began  to  unmoor, 
small  bower-anchor, 
nchor,  and  came  to 

■hT  of  the  l)ars,  and 
At  eiiTht,  P.  M.,  the 
r  mile!* ;  the  .south- 
it,  and  the  northern 
lid  set  all  sail.     At 
•iiig  east-south-east, 
wind  in  shore.     At 
nee  of  the  Harbor, 
akers,  having  from 
the  bar,  we  found 
■red.     Many  canoes 
mall  bower,  in  ten 
een  the  bars  bore 
le  river  a  half  mile 
and  a  half  miles' 
st  by  north,  distant 
s  came   alongside; 
5ur  water-casks,  in 
So  ends, 
wind  ;   let  go  the 

,  o'.e  of  the  owners  of 
,  was  then  in  the  pos- 
t  has  been  frequently 
by  the  affidavit  of  Mr. 


bent  bower-anchor,  and  veered  out  on  both  cables ;  sent  down  the  mnin- 
top-gnl  I  ant-yard;  filled  up  nil  the  water-casks  in  the  hold.  The  latter 
part,  heavy  gales,  and  rainy,  dirty  weather. 

iHay  lath.  —  Fre.sh  winds  and  rainy  weather;  many  natives  along- 
side ;  hove  up  the  best  bower-anchor ;  seunicn  and  tradesmen  at  their 
vnri«nis  departments. 

Maif  Hth.  —  Fresh  gales  and  cloudy;  many  natives  alongside;  at 
noon,  weighed  and  came  to  sail,  standing  up  the  river  north-east  by  east; 
we  found  the  channel  very  narrow.  At  four,  IV  M.,  we  had  sailed  up- 
wards of  twelve  or  fifteen  miles,  when  the  channel  was  so  very  narrow 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  keep  in  it,  having  from  three  to  eighteen 
fathoms  water,  sandy  bottom.  At  half  past  four,  the  ship  took  ground, 
but  she  did  not  stay  long  before  she  came  off,  without  any  assistance. 
VVc  backed  her  oil',  stern  foremost,  into  three  fathoms,  and  let  go  the 
small  bower,  and  moored  ship  with  kedge  and  hawser.  The  jolly-boat 
was  sent  to  sound  the  channel  out,  but  found  it  not  navigable  any  farther 
up ;  so,  of  course,  we  must  have  taken  the  wrong  channel.  So  ends, 
with  rainy  weather;  many  natives  alongside. 

Mm/  irtth.  —  Light  airs  and  pleasant  weather;  many  natives  from 
dilferent  tribes  came  alongside.  At  ten,  A.  M.,  unmoored  and  dropped 
down  with  the  tide  to  a  better  aiichoring-place ;  smiths  and  other  trades- 
men constantly  employed.  In  the  afternoon.  Captain  Gray  and  Mr.  Hos- 
kins,  ill  the  jolly-boat,  went  on  shore  to  take  a  short  view  of  the  country. 

Miiif  \iUh.  —  Light  airs  and  cloudy.  At  four,  A.  M.,  hove  up  the 
anchor  and  towed  down  about  three  miles,  with  the  last  of  the  ebb-tide ; 
came  into  six  fathoms,  sandy  bottom,  the  jolly-boat  sounding  the  channel. 
At  ten,  A.  M.,  a  fresh  breeze  came  up  river.  With  the  first  of  the  ebb- 
tide we  got  under  way,  and  beat  down  river.  At  one,  (from  its  being 
very  scpially,)  we  came  to,  about  two  miles  iVom  the  village,  {Chinouk,) 
which  bore  west-south-west ;  many  natives  alongside ;  fresh  gales  and 
squally. 

J/r///  \7th.  —  Fresh  winds  and  squally  ;  many  canoes  .alongside;  calk- 
ers  calking  the  pinnace;  seamen  paying  the  ship's  sides  with  tar;  painter 
painting  ship;  smiths  and  carpenters  at  their  departments. 

Mai/  IS/A.  —  Pleasant  weather.  At  four  in  the  morning,  began  to 
heave  ahe.id ;  at  hitlf  past,  came  to  sail,  standing  down  river  with  the  ebb- 
tide: at  seven,  (being  slack  water  and  the  wind  fluttering,)  we  came  to  in 
five  fathoms,  sandy  bottom  ;  the  entrance  between  the  bars  bore  south- 
west by  west,  distant  three  miles.  The  north  point  of  the  harbor  bore 
north-west,  distant  two  miles ;  the  south  bore  south-east,  distant  three  and 
a  half  miles.  At  nine,  a  breeze  sprung  up  from  the  eastward ;  took  up 
the  anchor  and  came  to  sail,  but  the  wind  soon  came  fluttering  again ; 
came  to  with  the  kedge  and  hawser;  veered  out  fifty  fathoms.  Noon, 
pleasant.  Latitude  observed,  4(5  degrees  17  minutes  north.  At  one, 
came  to  sail  with  the  first  of  the  ebb-tide,  and  drifted  down  broadside, 
with  light  airs  and  strong  tide ;  at  three  quarters  past,  a  fresh  wind  came 
from  the  northward;  wore  ship,  and  stood  into  the  river  again.  At  four, 
came  to  in  six  fathoms;  good  holding-ground  about  six  or  seven  miles 
up;  many  canoes  alongside. 

May  I9th.  —  Fresh  wind  and  clear  weather.  Early  a  number  of 
canoes  came  alongside ;  seamen  and  tradesmen  employed  in  their  various 
departments.     Captain  Gray  gave   this  river  the  name  of  Columbia's 


('  i. 


k 


ll".}-'- 


*4,  jVJ'i         >     >•    ' 


i'  i  i 


436 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[F. 


River,  and  the  north  side  of  the  entrance  Cape  Hancock;  the  south, 
Adams's  Point. 

May  20#/j.  —  Gentle  breezes  and  pleasant  weather.  At  one,  P.  M., 
(being  full  sea,)  took  up  the  anchor,  and  made  sail,  standing  down  river. 
At  two,  the  wind  left  us,  we  being  on  the  bar  with  a  very  strong  tide, 
which  set  on  the  breakers;  it  was  now  not  possible  to  get  out  without  a 
breeze  to  shoot  her  across  the  tide;  so  we  were  obliged  to  bring  up  in 
three  and  a  half  fathoms,  the  tide  running  five  knots.  At  three  quarters 
past  two,  a  fresh  wind  came  in  from  seaward  ;  we  immediately  came  to 
sail,  and  beat  over  the  bar,  having  from  five  to  seven  fathoms  water  in  the 
channel.  At  five,  P.  M.,  we  were  out,  clear  of  all  the  bars,  and  in  twenty 
fathoms  water.  A  breeze  came  from  the  southward ;  we  bore  away  to 
the  northward ;  set  all  sail  to  the  best  advantage.  At  eight,  Cape  Han- 
cock bore  south-east,  distant  three  leagues ;  the  north  extremity  of  the  land 
in  sight  bore  north  by  west.  At  nine,  in  steering  and  top-gallant  sails. 
Midnight,  light  airs. 

May  ^\st.  —  At  six,  A.  M.,  the  nearest  land  in  sight  bore  east-south- 
east, distant  eight  leagues.  At  seven,  set  top-gallant-sails  and  light  stay- 
sails. At  eleven,  set  steering-sails  fore  and  aft.  Noon,  pleasant,  agree- 
able weather.  The  entrance  of  Bulfinch's  Harbor  bore  south-east  by  east 
half  east,  distant  five  leagues. 


F. 


\  .,1 


Showing   that  the    Forty-ninth   Parallel    of  Latitude  was 

NOT     selected     as     THE     LiNE     OF     SEPARATION     BETWEEN     THE 

French  and  the  British  Territories  in  North  America, 
BY  Commissaries  appointed  agreeably  to  the  Treaty  of 
Uti.echt.* 

Mr.  Monroe,  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  in  London, 
iii  bis  letter  of  September  oth,  1804,  to  Lord  Harrowby,  the  British  secre- 
tary for  foreign  affairs.t  makes  the  following  statement  with  regard  to  the 
adoption  of  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude  as  the  northern  boundary  of  Lou- 
isiana :  — 

"  By  the  tenth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  it  is  agreed  that  'France 
shall  restore  to  Great  Britain  the  Bay  and  Straits  of  Hudson,  together  with 
all  the  lands,  seas,  sea-coasts,  rivers,  and  places,  situate  in  the  said  bay 
and  straits,  which  belong  thereto ;  and  it  is  also  agreed,  on  both  sides,  to 
determine,  within  a  year,  by  commissaries  to  be  forthwith  named  by  e.ich 
party,  the  limits  which  are  to  be  fixed  between  the  said  Bjiy  of  lludson 
and  the  places  appertaining  to  the  French,  which  limits  both  the  British 
and  French  subjects  shall  be  wholly  forbid  to  pass  over,  or  thereby  to  go 
to  each  other,  by  sea  or  by  land :  the  same  commissioners  shall  a'  -o  have 
orders  to  describe  and  settle  in  like  manner  the  boundaries  between  the 

*  See  p.  282  of  the  History. 

t  Communicated  to  Congress,  and  published  with  President  Jefferson's  messaee  of 
March  30th,  1808. 


t  I 


F.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


437 


t-i' 


JefTerson's  mesaage  of 


other  British  and  French  colonies  in  those  parts.*  Commissaries  were 
accordingly  appointed  by  each  power,  who  executed  the  stipulations  of 
the  treaty,  in  establishing  the  boundaries  proposed  by  it.  They  fixed  the 
northern  boundary  of  Canada  and  Louisiana  by  a  line  beginning  on  the 
Atlantic,  at  a  ciipe  or  promontory  in  58  degrees  30  minutes  north  latitude, 
thence  south-westwardly  to  the  Lake  Mistissin,  thence  fartlier  south-west 
to  the  latitude  of  49  degrees  north  from  the  equator,  and  along  that  line 
indefinitely." 

Mr.  Monroe  does  not  give  his  authority  for  the  assertion  respecting  the 
adoption  of  this  line  by  the  commissaries;  he,  however,  most  probably 
derived  his  information  from  the  map  of  America  attached  to  Postle- 
thwiiyt's  Dictionary  of  Commerce,  published  in  1751,  to  which  he  alludes 
in  other  parts  of  his  correspondence,  and  in  which  a  line  appears  nearly 
as  described  by  him,  with  a  note  on  the  map,  saying,  "  The  line  that  parts 
French  Canada  from  British  Canada  was  settled  hy  commissaries,  after 
the  peace  of  Utrecht,  making  a  curve  from  Davis's  Inlet,  in  the  Atlantic 
Si  a,  down  to  the  49th  degree,  through  Lake  Abitibis,  to  the  North-West 
Ocean."  In  the  Dictionary  to  which  this  map  is  attached,  the  limits  of 
tliese  territories  are  expressly  declared  to  be  zindetermined.  The  map  of 
North  America,  by  Palairet  and  Delaroche,  published  at  London  in  1765, 
also  gives  the  same  line,  without  any  note  as  to  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  adopted.  In  the  map  of  the  British  Possessions  in  America,  pub- 
lished by  Bowen  and  Gibson  in  1775,  and  in  one  or  two  other  inferior 
maps,  the  49th  parallel  is  given  as  the  southern  limit  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  territories,  from  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Superior,  westward 
to  Red  River,  down  which  the  boundary  is  continued  to  Lake  Winnipeg. 
Tliese  are  the  only  authorities,  as  yet  discovered,  for  the  belief  that  the 
49th  parallel  was  adopted  as  a  boundary  by  commissaries  appointed  ac- 
cording to  the  treaty  of  Utrecht. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mitchell's  great  map  of  America,  published  in 
1755  at  London,  under  the  patronage  of  the  colonial  department,  presents 
a  line  drawn  around  Hudson's  Bay,  at  the  distance  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  from  its  shore,  as  "  the  bounds  of  Hudson's  Bay  by  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht;"  and  the  same  line  appears  on  the  map  of  America 
accompanying  Smollett's  History  of  England,  published  in  1700,  on  that 
of  Bennet,  published  in  1770,  on  that  of  Faden,  in  1777,  and  on  some 
other  maps  of  that  period. 

No  line  of  separation  whatsoever,  between  the  Hudson's  Bay  territories 
and  the  French  possessions  in  America,  is  to  be  found  on  the  large  and 
beautiful  map  of  America  by  Henry  Popple,  published  in  1738,  also  under 
the  patronage  of  the  colonial  department,  and  bearing  the  stamp  of  the 
approbation  of  Dr.  Hailey,  which  is  particularl}  minute  in  ail  that  relates 
to  the  territories  in  question  ;  or  on  any  of  the  maps  in  the  atlas  of  Max- 
well and  Senex,  published  in  1721,  or  in  any  of  those  attached  to  the 
volume  of  Boyer's  Politicai  State  for  1721  —  to  the  History  of  Hudson's 
Bay,  by  Dobbs  —  to  the  American  Traveller,  by  Cluny  —  to  the  History 
of  the  British  Empire  in  America,  by  Wynne  —  to  Alcedo's  Dictionary 
of  America,  or  on  many  other  maps,  of  inferior  merit,  which  might  be 
named. 

These  discrepancies  should  not  excite  surprise ;  for  maps,  and  books 
of  geography,  which  are  most  frequently  consulted  in  relation  to  bounda- 
ries, are,  or  rather  have  been,  the  very  worst  authorities  on  such  suLjects ; 


!:'■ 


li::.. 


V 


it! 


tJfi 


hi 


I' '  u 


{l 


t'iiiU' 


m 


'1  mm 
'ff  rjfr'i' 


1   r! 


k    -if 

I' 


'  't    .Ir 


^   ! 


1 .1 


438 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[P. 


as  they  are  ordinarily  made  by  persons  wholly  unacquainted  with  political 
affairs.  Of  this,  numerous  examples  may  be  cited  from  works  of  authors 
the  most  highly  esteemed  as  geographers,  even  at  the  present  day.* 

No  allusion  whatsoever  to  the  settlement  of  any  boundary  line  between 
the  Hudson's  Bay  territories  and  the  Frrach  dominions,  by  commissaries 
appointed  agreeably  to  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  is  to  be  found  in  any  of  the 
followini^  works,  which  have  been  carefully  examined  with  reference  to 
this  question  :  viz.  —  Actes,  Memoires,  fitc,  concernant  la  Paix  d'Utrecht, 
a  voluminous  work,  published  in  1710  —  Actes,  Negotiations,  &c.,  depuis 
la  Paix  d'Utrecht,  1745  —  the  collections  of  treaties  and  state  papers  by 
Dumont,  Boyer,  Martens,  Jenkinson,  and  Herstlet  —  Collection  des  Edits, 
Ordonnances,  &lc.,  concernant  le  Canada  —  the  histories  of,  and  memoirs 
on,  Louisiana,  by  Dumont,  Le  Page  Duprntz,  Vergennes,  Marbois,  and 
others  —  Memoires  des  Commissaires  Francais  et  Anglais,  sur  les  Pos- 
sessions, &c.,  des  deux  Couronnes  en  Amerique,  1754  —  the  works  of 
Swift  and  of  Bolingbroke  —  the  Parliamentary  History  of  England  —  and 
the  Histories  of  England  by  Tindal,  Smollet,  Belsham,  Mahon,  or  Wade. 

This  is  strong  negative  evidence.  Anderson,  in  his  elaborate  History 
of  Commerce,  (vol.  iii.  p.  207,)  thus  pointedly  denies  that  any  such  set- 
tlement of  limits  was  effected  agreeably  to  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht:  "Though  the  French  king  yielded  to  the  queen  of  Greiit 
Britain,  to  be  possessed  by  her,  in  full  right,  forever,  the  Bay  and  Straits 
of  Hudson,  and  all  parts  thereof,  and  within  the  same  then  possessed  by 
France,  yet  leaving  the  boundaries  between  Hudson's  Bay  and  the  north 
parts  of  Canada  belonging  to  France  to  be  determined  by  commissaries 
within  a  year,  was,  in  effect,  the  same  thing  as  giving  up  the  point  alto- 
gether; it  being  well  known,  to  all  Europe,  that  France  never  permits 
her  commissaries  to  determine  matters  referred  to  such,  unless  it  can  be 
done  with  great  advantage  to  her.  Those  boundaries,  therefore,  have 
never  yet  been  settled,  tiiough  the  British  and  French  subjects  are,  by 
that  article,  expressly  debarred  from  passing  over  the  same,  or  thereby  to 
go  to  each  other,  by  sea  or  land.  These  commissaries  were  likewise  to 
settle  the  boundaries  between  the  other  British  and  French  colonies  on 

*  In  a  lariTf  and  hcautifiilly-onirravcd  map  of  the  United  States,  published  at  Phila- 
delphia, in  If^'il,  ^'froin  tliv  mo.it  iimlmilitrd  iiuthnritirs,  by ,  <rrt>(rrtijilirr  and 

drausrhtsnian,"  tho  nnrtluTn  bi)undary  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Mississippi  is 
represented  l)y  a  lino  drawn  westward  from  the  sources  of  that  river,  nearly  under  tlie 
latitude  of  47  deirrees  and  40  niinut's;  the  country  north  of  this  line  beinir  stated  to 
be  "in  ilisputr  bctirrcn  S/iaiiiand  (irrat  Rritfiin."  Now,  thn-e  years  before  this  map 
appeared,  tin-  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  the  British  possessions  in  tiiat 
part  of  America  liad  been  fixed  by  treaty,  according  to  which,  the  dividinsr  line  ful- 
towcd  t!ie  cours"  of  the  4!lth  ])arallel ;  and,  two  years  before  tht!  date  of  the  map, 
Spain  had  also,  l)y  treaty,  ceded  to  the  United  States  her  rights  to  all  territories  in 
AiniTicn  norlli  of  the  4'Jd  parallel.  These  treaties  had  been  published;  and  it  is 
scarcely  crediiile  tli;it  they  siiould  have  been  UTikno.vn  to  an  American  geographc! 
engaged  in  i)repariiiga  niaj)  of  the  United  States.  Mistakes  of  the  same  kind,  equally 
great,  are,  Imwiver,  committed  in  l''urope.  In  the  Encyclopn»dia  of  Geogrnphv, 
published  at  Kdinburirh,  in  IHlM,  by  Hugh  Murray,  and  other  scientitic  persons,  we 
find  it  staled,  (p.  1;<74,)  that  "the  whole  region  west  of  tho  Rocky  Moiir\tains,  ex- 
tending between  the  4iJd  and  the  4IHh  parallels  of  latitude,  hiis,  Inj  (liarorrri/  ..td 
trrtili/,  hint  dssiiriird  ti>  tlir  I'rii/eil  Sliitrs;"  and  a  statement  to  tho  same  etfect  may  be 
fo\ind  in  the  Londnn  Quarterly  Review  for  January,  18y'2.  Those  mistakes  evidently 
arose  from  ignorance:  but  the  same  defence  cannot  be  pleaded  in  all  cases;  for  maps 
have  been  drawn,  and  engraved,  and  colored,  with  a  full  knowledge  of  their  falsehood, 
in  order  to  forward  the  ends  of  governments  or  of  individuals. 


[p. 

nted  with  political 
1  works  of  authors 
resent  day.* 
iidary  line  between 
i*,  by  commissaries 
»und  in  any  of  the 

with  reference  to 
t  la  Paix  d'Utrecht, 
ations,  fitc,  depuis 
md  state  papers  by 
)liection  des  Edits, 
es  of,  and  memoirs 
ines,  Marbois,  and 
iglais,  sur  les  Pos- 
>4  —  the  works  of 

of  England  —  and 
,  Mahon,  or  Wade. 
3  elaborate  History 

that  any  such  set- 
ns  of  the  treaty  of 
e  queen  of  Grent 
he  Bay  and  Straits 

then  possessed  by 
Bay  and  the  north 
ed  by  commissaries 

up  the  point  alto- 
ance  never  permits 
1,  unless  it  can  be 
es,  therefore,  have 
jh  subjects  are,  hy 
same,  or  thereby  to 
s  were  likewise  to 
'rench  colonies  on 


f^s,  published  at  Pliila- 
— ,  iTfoirnijihrr  and 
it  of  the  Mississippi  is 
iver,  nearly  iiiuicr  tlv 
s  line  beiiiy;  stated  to 
years  befori'  this  map 
ish  possessiidis  in  that, 
the  dividinji  line  tol- 
the  date  of  the  map, 
ts  to  nil  territories  in 

l)nblish(>d  ;    and  it  is 

American  jreographer 

he  same  kind,  equally 

ptrdia   of  Geogr;;pliy, 

scientitic  persons,  wo 
llocky  xMountains,  fX- 
liiis,  Inj  (linrorrrij  .id 
lie  same  etfect  may  be 
t'se  mistakes  evidently 
in  all  eases  ;  for  maps 
dge  of  their  falsehood, 


a] 


PROOFS     \ND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


439 


that  continent,  which,  likewise,  was  never  done."     The  same  denial  is 
transferred  by  Macpherson  to  his  Annals  of  Commerce. 

The  only  evidence  of  the  appointment  of  commissaries  for  the  settlement 
of  limits  according  to  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  which  has  been  discovered, 
is  contained  in  a  passage  in  Charlevoix's  Histoire  de  la  Nouvelle  France, 
of  which  the  following  is  a  translation :  •'  France  took  no  part  in  this 
dispute,  [between  the  British  and  the  Indians  of  Nova  Scotia,  in  1722,1 
in  order  to  avoid  giving  the  slightest  pretext  for  interrupting  the  good 
understanding  between  the  two  nations,  which  had  been  restored  with  so 
much  difficulty ;  even  the  negotiations  betiveen  the  two  courts  for  the  set- 
tlement  of  boundaries  ceased,  although  commissaries  had  been  appointed, 
on  both  sides,  for  that  object  since  1719." 


G. 

Papers  relative  to  the  American  Establishment  of  Astoria, 
ON  the  Coli;mbia  River.* 

Letter  from  J.  J.  Astor,  of  Nrw   York,  to  the  Ilonurahle  John   Quincy 
Adams,  Secretary  of  State  of  the    United  Stntcs.i 


Siu, 


Nkw  Youk,  January  4th,  1823. 


I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter  of  the  24th  ultimo.  Indis- 
position has  prevented  my  acknowledging  the  receipt  thereof  at  an  earlier 
period. 

You  request  information  of  arrangements  made,  at  or  about  1814,  by 
the  North-West  Company  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  by  which 
that  company  became  possessed  of  a  settlement  made  at  the  mouth  of 
Columbia  River  by  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  settlement  to 
which  you  allude,  I  presume,  is  "Astoria,"  as  I  know  of  no  other  having 
been  made  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  that  river.  Several  circumstances  are 
alleged,  as  having  contributed  to  the  arrangement  by  which  the  North- 
West  Company  became  in  possession  of  that  settlement,  but  chiefly  to  the 
misi:  .,  of  the  confidence  which  had  been  placed  in  Mr.  McDougal,  who, 
at  the  time  the  arrangement  was  made,  and  at  the  time  my  agent,  Mr. 
Wilson  P.  Hunt,  was  absent,  acted  as  sub-agent. 

I  beg  leave  briefly  to  state,  that,  contemplating  to  make  an  establish- 
ment, at  the  mouth  of  Columbia  River,  which  should  serve  as  a  place  of 
depot,  and  give  further  facilities  for  conducting  a  trade  across  this  conti- 
nent to  that  river,  and  from  thence,  on  the  range  of  north-west  coast, 
&c.,  to  Canton,  in  China,  and  from  thence  to  the  United  States,  arrange- 
ments were  accordingly  made,  in   1810,  for  a  party  of  men  to  cross  the 

*  See  '-hap.  xiv.  of  the  History. 

t  Documents  accompanying  President  Monroe's  message  to  Congress  of  January 
27th,  1823. 


!'■ 


l-i! 


440 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[G. 


.U 


continent  for  the  Columbia  River.  At  the  same  time,  I  fitted  out  the 
ship  Tonquin,  carryintr  twenty  guus  and  sixty  men,  commanded  by  the 
late  Captain  Tiiorn,  lieutenant  in  the  United  States  navy.  The  ship 
sailed  in  Septcml)er,  1810,  having  on  board  the  means  for  making  an 
establishment  at  Columbia,  where  she  arrived  on  the  2"2d  of  March,  1811. 
They  landed,  found  the  natives  friendly,  and  built  a  fort,  erected  a  house, 
store,  &,c.  Tiiis  being  accomplished,  Captain  Thorn  left  thirty  men  in 
possession  of  the  place,  to  await  the  party  who  were  to  m.ike  the  voyage 
over  land  ;  these,  also,  happily  arrived,  though  not  till  several  months  after. 
On  or  about  the  Ist  of  June,  Captain  Thorn  left  Columbia  River,  with  a 
view  to  make  some  trade  on  the  coast,  and  f hen  to  return  to  the  river; 
but,  unfortunately,  Thorn  never  returned.  At  about  two  hundred  miles 
north  of  Columbia,  he  put  in  a  bay  to  trade  with  the  natives.  Not  at- 
tending to  the  precautions  necessary,  as  he  had  been  instructed  to  do,  to 
guard  against  an  attack,  he  suffered  a  whole  tribe  of  Indians  to  come  on 
board  and  about  his  ship.  An  attack  was  made;  he  was  overpowered: 
fire  was  communicated  to  the  magazine,  the  ship  was  blown  up,  and  every 
soul  on  board  or  near  her  perished. 

In  1811,  I  fitted  out  another  ship,  the  Beaver,  carrying  twenty  guns, 
with  a  duplicate  cargo  to  the  ship  Tonquin,  and  sixty  or  seventy  men. 
The  Captain  [Sowles]  was  instructed  to  sail  for  the  Columbia  River,  and 
in  search  of  the  men  who  were  sent  across  the  continent,  as  also  of  the 
Tonquin.  The  Beaver  sailed  from  this  in  October,  1811,  arrived  at  Co- 
lumbia in  May  following,  found  the  establishment,  and  landed  such  men, 
goods,  provisions,  &c.,  as  the  establishment  was  in  need  of  My  instruc- 
tions to  the  captain  were,  that,  after  supplying  the  establishment,  he  siionld 
proceed  to  Chatka,*  a  Russian  .settlement,  for  the  purpose  of  trade,  and 
then  return  to  Columbia,  take  what  furs  we  had,  and  proceed  to  Canton, 
and  thence  to  New  York.  lie  accordingly  left  Columbia,  (and,  nio.«t 
unfortunately,  Mr.  Hunt,  of  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  my  chief  agent,  iel't 
the  river  with  him,)  sailed,  as  directed,  for  the  Russian  settlement,  and 
effected  their  object;  but,  instead  of  following  instructions  to  return  to 
Columbia,  he  sailed  direct  for  Canton,  leaving  Mr.  Hunt  at  one  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  to  await  tlie  arrival  of  another  ship,  which  I  had  prom- 
ised to  send  from  this  in  181*^.  The  ship  Beaver  arrived  at  Canton,  and 
received  there  the  news  of  the  war.  I  had  sent  orders  to  the  captain  to 
return  to  Astoria;  but  he  was  feirfid  of  being  ca))tured,  and  remained 
safely  at  Canton  till  the  war  was  over,  when  lie  cnme  home.  In  conso- 
quence  of  the  war,  I  found  it  inconvenient  to  send  a  ship  in  1812,  i)ut  I 
did  send  one,  the  Lark,  early  in  1813,  with  directions  to  the  captain  to 
sail  for  Columbia  River,  and  to  stop  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  for  informa- 
tion. Being  within  a  kw  day.s'  sail  of  those  islands,  the  ship,  in  a  sqtiall 
of  wind,  was  upset,  and  finally  drifted  on  the  beach  of  one  of  tlio:*o 
islands,  a  wreck,  —  ship  and  cargo  totally  lost.  Here  was  met  Mr.  Hunt, 
who,  after  all  the  information  he  received,  and  my  great  desire  to  protect 
the  establishment  at  Columbia  River,  procured  an  American  vessel,  took 
some  provisions,  sailed,  and  arrived  in  Columbia  River.  lie  there  learned 
that  Mr.  McDougal  had  transferred  all  my  property  to  the  North-West 
Company,  who  were  in  possessicm  of  it  by  a  sale,  as  he  called  it,  for  the 
sum  of  about  fifty-eight  thousand  dollars,  of  which  he  retained  fourteen 

*  Sitka,  or  New  Archangel,  the  chief  establishment  in  Russian  America. 


ff 


0.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


441 


Russian  America. 


thousand  dollars,  for  wages  said  to  be  due  to  some  of  the  men.  From  the 
price  obtained  for  the  goods,  &,c.,  and  he  having  himself  become  interested 
in  the  purchase,  and  made  a  partner  of  the  North-West  Company,  some 
idea  may  be  formed  as  to  this  man's  correctness  of  dealings.  It  will  be 
seen,  by  the  agreement  (that  of  which  I  transmit  a  copy)  and  the  invento- 
ry, that  he  sold  to  the  North-West  Company  eighteen  thousand  one 
hundred  and  seventy  and  a  quarter  pounds  of  beaver  at  two  dollars,  which 
was  at  that  time  selling  in  Canton  at  five  and  six  dollars ;  nine  hundred 
and  seven  otter  skins  at  fifty  cents,  or  half  a  dollar,  which  were  selling  at 
Canton  at  five  to  six  dollars  per  skin. 

I  estimated  the  whole  property  to  be  worth  nearer  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars  than  forty  thousand  dollars,  about  the  sum  I  received  in 
bills  on  Montreal.  Previous  to  the  transaction  of  McDougal,  we  had 
already  established  trading  posts  in  the  interior,  and  were  in  contact  with 
the  North-West  Company.  It  is  now  to  be  seen  what  means  have  been 
used  by  them  to  counteract  my  plan.  It  is  well  known  that,  as  soon  as 
the  North-West  Company  had  information  of  my  intention  and  plan  for 
conducting  my  commercial  operations,  they  despatched  a  party  of  men 
from  the  interior,  with  a  view  to  arrive  before  my  people  at  Columbia. 
These  men  were  obliged  to  return  without  effecting  their  object.  In  the 
mean  time,  representation  was  made  to  their  government  as  to  the  proba- 
ble effect  of  my  operations  on  their  interest,  and  requesting  to  interfere 
in  their  behalf.  This  being  in  time  of  peace,  the  government  did  not 
deem  it  advisable  so  to  do.  So  soon,  however,  as  war  was  declared,  these 
representations  were  renewed,  aid  was  asked  from  the  government,  and  it 
was  granted.  The  Phoebe  frigate,  and  sloops  of  war  Raccoon  and  Por- 
cupine, were  sent  fr(;in  England,  with  orders  to  proceed  to  Columbia 
River,  and  destroy  my  property.  They  sailed  from  England  early  in  Jan- 
uary, 1813.  Arriving  at  Rio  Janeiro,  Admiral  Dickson  ordered  the 
Phoebe  frigate,  with  one  of  the  sloops,  to  pursue  Captain  Porter  in  the 
frigate  Essex,  and  the  sloop  of  war  Raccoon,  to  the  Columbia.  She  ar- 
rived there,  took  possession  in  the  name  of  the  king,  and  changed  the 
name  of  the  place  from  Astoria  to  Fort  George.  Previous  to  this,  the 
North-West  Company  had  despatched  another  or  second  party  of  men  to 
the  Columbia.  They  arrived  there  in  the  ab.sence  of  Mr.  Hunt ;  McDou- 
gal gave  them  support  and  protection,  and  they  commenced,  after  some 
time,  to  negotiate  with  this  gentleman. 

The  reasons  assigned  by  him  for  his  conduct  will  be  seen  by  an  e.xtract 
of  a  letter  said  to  havr  heen  sent  by  a  Mr.  Shaw,  of  the  North-West 
Company,  and  of  whicii  i  send  you  a  copy.  The  plan  by  me  adopted 
was  such  as  must  materially  have  affected  the  interest  of  the  North-West 
and  Hudson's  Bny  Companies,  and  it  was  easy  to  be  foreseen  that  they 
would  employ  every  means  to  counteract  my  operations,  and  which,  as  my 
impression,  I  stated  to  the  executive  of  your  department  as  early  jis  Feb- 
ruary, 181:5,  as  will  be  seen  by  a  copy  of  the  sketch  of  a  letter  which  I 
wrote  to  the  secretary  of  state,  and  to  which  no  reply  was  given.  On  re- 
peated application,  some  time  after,  aid  was  promised  me;  but  I  believe 
the  situation  of  our  country  rendered  it  inconvenient  to  give  it.  You 
will  observe  that  the  name  of  the  Pacific  Fur  Company  is  made  use  of  at 
the  commeuccMnent  of  the  arrangements  for  this  undertaking.  I  preferred 
to  have  it  appear  as  the  business  of  a  ctmipany,  rather  than  that  of  an 
individual ;  and  several  of  the  gentlemen  engaged —  Mr.  Hunt,  Mr.  Crooks, 
56 


I/! 


i! 


"I  ! 


442 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[0. 


Mr.  McKay,  McDougul,  Stuart,  tfec.  —  were,  in  efiect,  to  be  interested  as 
partners  in  the  undertaking,  so  far  as  respected  the  profit  which  might 
arise:  but  the  means  were  furnished  by  me,  and  'he  property  was  solely 
mine,  and  I  sustained  the  loss,  which,  though  considerable,  I  do  not  re- 
gret, because,  had  it  not  been  for  the  unfortunate  occurrence  just  stated,  I 
should  have  been,  as  I  believe,  most  richly  rewarded ;  as  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  difference  of  price  in  the  beaver  and  otter  skins  silone,  say  what 
I  received,  and  the  value  of  them  at  Canton  at  that  time,  is  about  sixty 
thousand  dollars.  The  copy  of  the  agreement,  inventory,  and  extract  of 
Shaw's  letter,  you  will  please  return  to  me. 

I  am,  sir,  &c., 

John  Jacob  Astor. 

(2.) 

Agreement  between  the  Agent$  uf  the  Pacific  Fur  Company  and  the  North- 
West  Company,  for  the  Transfer  of  the  Esiublishmmts  of  the  Former, 
on  ih'  Cc'umbia  River,  to  the  Latter;  concluded  on  the  I6th  of  Octo- 
ber, 'i^ia. 

Tiiu  association  heretofore  carrying  on  the  fur  trade  to  the  Columbia 
River  and  its  dependencies,  under  the  firm  and  denomination  of  the 
Pacific  Fur  Company,  being  dissolved,  on  the  1st  of  July  last,  by 
Duncan  McDougal,  Donald  McKenzie,  David  Stuart,  and  John  Clarke, 
witli  i-lio  intention  to  abandon  the  trade  in  that  quarter,  it  is  hereby  agree  d, 
concluded,  and  settled  upon,  of  their  own  free  will  and  consent,  by 
Duncan  McDougal,  acting  for  himself  and  in  behalf  of  his  associates, 
namely,  Donald  McKenzie,  David  Stuavt,  and  John  Clarke,  on  the  one 
part,  and  John  George  McTavish  and  John  Stuart,  acting  for  themselves 
and  in  behalf  of  the  North-West  Company,  on  the  other  part,  that  the 
following  agreement  and  settlement  take  place  between  them,  and  be 
binding  and  obligatory  in  the  manner,  and  subject  to  the  terms  and  agree- 
ments, hereinafter  specified  and  contained.  Now,  therefore,  it  is  hereby 
mutually  agreed  and  concluded,  by  and  between  the  said  parties  to  tlie.se 
presents,  and  they  do  hereby  mutually  covenant  and  agree,  to  and  with 
each  other,  in  manner  following,  that  is  to  say:  — 

Articli;  1.  The  party  of  the  former  part  hereby  covenants  and 
agrees  to  deliver,  or  cause  to  be  delivered,  the  whole  of  the  establish- 
ments, furs,  and  present  stock  in  hand,  on  the  Columbia  and  Thomp- 
son's Rivers,  as  soon  as  the  necessary  inventories  can  be  tnken,  unto  the 
said  party  of  the  latter  part,  or  any  other  person  or  persons  appointed  by 
them  to  represent  the  North-West  Company,  to  receive  the  same  at  the 
prices  and  rates  concluded  and  agreed  upon  as  hereinafter  specified,  in 
article  fourth. 

Art.  2.  In  consideration  of  article  first  being  duly  and  faithfully 
performed  by  the  party  of  thr  former  part,  they,  the  said  John  George 
McTavish  and  John  Stuart,  for  themselves  and  on  behalf  of  the  North- 
West  Company,  do  bind  and  oblige  themselves  and  the  said  North-West 
Company,  or  their  agents,  to  pay  or  cause  to  be  paid,  imto  the  said 
Duncan  McDougal,  acting  for  himself  and  in  behalf  of  his  associates,  as 
before  mentioned,  his  attorneys,  assigns,  or  order,  the  amount  of  the  sums 
arising  from  the  sale,  according  to  article  first,  and  the  rates  hereinafter 


[o. 


G.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


443 


to  be  interested  as 
profit  which  might 
>roperty  was  solely 
rable,  I  do  not  re- 
rrence  just  stated,  I 
as  it  will  be  seen 
ins  nione,  say  what 
inie,  is  about  sixty 
[)iy,  and  extract  of 


4  Jacob  Astor. 


•rtH?/  and  the  North- 
lints  of  the  Former, 
t  the  I6th  of  Octo- 

de  to  the  Columbia 

inoniination    of  the 

t   of  July    last,   by 

,  and  John  Clarke, 

,  it  is  hereby  agreed, 

II    and  consent,  by 

f  of  his  a^^sociates, 

Clarke,  on  the  one 

ting  for  ibemselves 

)ther  part,  that  the 

vecn    them,  and  be 

he  tonus  and  aiirce- 

[^rcfore,  it  is  hereby 

aid  parties  to  these 

agree,  to  and  with 

by  covenants  and 
lo  of  the  establish- 
mibia  and  Thomp- 

be  tJiken,  unto  the 
rsoiis  appointed  by 
ve  the  same  at  the 
jinafter  specified,  in 

duly  and  faithfully 
said  John  George 
ehalf  of  the  North- 
he  said  North-West 
)aid,  unto  the  said 
of  his  associates,  as 
amount  of  the  sums 
le  rates  hereinafter 


specified  in  article  fourth,  at  three  several  instalments ;  the  first  one 
third  on  or  before  the  2.>th  of  October,  1814,  the  second  one  third  on 
or  before  the  25th  of  November,  and  the  remaining  one  third  on  or  be- 
fore the  25th  of  December.  And,  further,  it  is  hereby  understood  that, 
should  the  party  of  the  former  part  find  it  convenient  to  leave  the  amount 
of  the  several  drafts,  after  becoming  payable,  as  already  specified,  in  the 
hands  of  the  party  of  the  latter  part,  or  their  agents,  they,  the  said  party 
of  the  latter  part,  or  their  agents,  will  allow  interest  at  six  per  cent,  until 
paid  on  demand ;  and,  as  there  are  several  moneys,  the  produce  of  their 
wages,  due  unto  the  people  employed  in  the  service  of  the  late  Pacific  Fur 
Company,  carrying  on  trade  on  the  Columbia  and  Thompson's  Rivers, 
the  said  party  of  the  latter  part,  namely,  John  George  McTavish  and  John 
Stuart,  acting  for  themselves  and  the  North-West  Company,  as  their 
agents,  do  hereby  bind  and  oblige  themselves  to  pay,  or  cause  to  be  paid, 
unto  the  several  individuals  employed  by  the  party  of  the  former  part,  the 
amount  of  the  balances  due  to  them,  according  to  the  statement  that  shall 
be  delivered  by  the  said  Duncan  McDougal,  acting  for  himself  and  his 
associates,  as  before  mentioned,  within  one  month  after  their  arrival  at 
Montreal,  in  the  province  of  Lower  Canada;  the  amount  of  which  several 
sums,  so  paid,  is  to  be  considered  as  part  of,  and  deducted  from,  the  first 
instalment,  to  be  paid  unto  the  said  Duncan  McDougal,  acting  for  him- 
self and  his  associates,  as  before  mentioned,  his  attorneys,  assigns,  or 
order,  on  or  before  the  25th  of  October,  1814. 

Aur.  !}.  And,  further,  the  said  John  George  McTavish  and  John 
Stuart,  acting  fur  themselves  and  the  North-West  Company,  will  be  at 
liberty  to  make  a  selection,  and  take  into  their  service  such  of  the  peo- 
ple in  the  employment  of  the  party  of  the  former  part  as  they  may  think 
proper ;  in  consideration  of  which,  the  said  party  of  the  latter  part  bind 
and  oblige  themselves  to  pay,  or  cause  to  be  paid,  unto  the  said  party  of 
the  former  part,  the  several  sums  due  to  them  by  such  as  may  enter  into 
the  service  of  the  party  of  the  latter  part:  and  the  said  party  of  the  latter 
part  further  bind  and  oblige  themselves  to  provide  and  insure  a  safe  pas- 
sage to  tt\e  said  party  of  the  former  part,  and  the  remaining  part,  that  will 
not  be  taken  into  their  service,  to  their  respective  homes. 

AiiT.  4.  And,  further,  it  is  hereby  agreed  and  concluded  upon,  by 
the  said  parties,  that  the  following  are  the  rates  at  which  the  establish- 
iiients,  furs,  and  stock  on  hand,  be  valued  at,  as  follows:  dry  goods,  sta- 
tionery, gunpowder,  and  leaf  tobacco,  fifty  per  cent,  on  the  prime  cost ; 
sliip  chandlery,  sixty  per  cent.;  shot,  ball,  lead,  iron,  and  steel,  one 
hundred  per  cent. ;  deduction  on  made-up  iron  works  at  Columbia  River, 
tiiirty-three  and  one  third  per  cent. ;  new  boats,  each,  ten  pounds  Halifax 
currency;  boats  in  use,  each,  five  pounds  Halifax  currency;  shallop,  with 
riffffing  complete,  one  hundred  and  twelve  pounds  ten  shillinrrs;  two  black- 
smith's forges  complete,  twenty-five  i)ounds;  plug  tobacco,  one  shilling  and 
six  pence  per  pound;  plug  tobacco  manufactured  at  Columbia,  one  shil- 
ling and  three  pence  per  pound;  beads  assorted,  five  shillings  per  pound; 
arms,  cannon,  &,c.,  prime  cost;  provisions  at  fixed  prices;  articles  in  use, 
half  inventory  prices;  horses,  thirty  shillings  each;  buildings,  two  hun- 
dred pounds;  John  Reid's  adventure,  and  Freeman's,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Snake  country  and  Spanish  River,  to  deduct  one  hundred  per  cent.; 
beaver  furs,  ten  shillings  per  pound ;  beaver  coating,  eight  shillings  and 
four  pence   per  pound;    muskrats,  seven   pence   half-penny  each;   land 


444 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[G. 


otters,  two  shillings  and  six  pence  each ;  sea  otters,  large,  sixty  shillings 
each. 

And  for  the  faithful  performance  of  all  and  singular  the  said  covenants 
and  agreements,  to  be  by  them  respectively  kept  and  performed,  all  and 
every  of  the  parties  to  these  presents  bind  themselves,  separately  and 
jointly,  for  their  several  associates,  firmly  by  these  presents.  In  witness 
whereof,  the  parties  to  these  presents  have  hereunto  set  their  hands  and 
seals,  this  16th  day  of  October,  1813,  at  the  entrance  of  Columbia  River, 
north-west  coast  of  America. 


Witnesses. 
John  C.  Hasley,  Angus  Bethune, 

Gabriel  Franchere,  James  McMillan, 
Alfred  Seaton,  Joseph  McGillivray 

William  Wallace, 


Duncan  McDougal, 
J.  G.  McTavish, 
J.  Stuart. 


(3.) 

Account  of  the  Capture  of  Astoria  by  the  British  Sloop  of  War  Raccoon, 
Captain  Black,  in  December,  1813.  Extracted  from  *'  Adventures  on 
the  Columbia  River,  by  John  Ross  Cox." 

The  Isaac  Todd  sailed  from  London  in  March,  1813,  in  company 
with  the  Phoebe  frigate,  and  the  Cherub  and  Raccoon  sloops  of  war. 
They  arrived  safe  at  Rio  Janeiro,  and  thence  proceeded  around  Cape 
Horn  to  the  Pacific,  having  previously  made  arrangements  to  meet  at 
Juan  Fern.mdez.  The  three  men-of-war  reached  the  latter  island,  after 
encountering  dreadful  gales  about  the  cape :  they  waited  there  some  time 
for  the  Isaac  Todd;  but,  as  she  did  not  make  her  appearance,  Commo- 
dore Hillyer  did  not  deem  it  prudent  to  remain  any  longer  inactive.  He 
therefore,  in  company  with  the  Cherub,  proceeded  in  search  of  Commcv 
doie  Porter,  who,  in  the  American  frigate  Essex,  was  clearing  the  South 
Sea  of  English  whalers,  and  inflicting  other  injuries  of  a  serious  nature 
on  our  commerce ;  he  shortly  after  met  the  Essex  at  Valparaiso,  and,  after 
a  severe  contest,  captured  her. 

At  the  same  time,  he  ordered  Captain  Black,  in  the  Raccoon,  to 
proceed  direct  to  the  Columbia,  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  the  Ameri- 
can establishments  at  Astoria.  The  Raccoon  arrived  at  the  Columbia  on 
the  1st  of  December,  1813.  The  surprise  and  disappointment  of  Captain 
Black  and  his  officers  were  extrfine,  on  learning  the  arrangement  that  had 
taken  place  between  the  two  companies,  by  which  the  establishment  had 
become  British  property.  They  had  calculated  on  obtaining  a  splendid 
prize  by  the  capture  of  Astoria,  the  strength  and  importance  of  which 
had  been  much  magnified ;  and  the  contracting  parties  were  therefore 
fortunate  in  having  closed  their  bargain  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the 
Raccoon.  On  looking  at  the  wooden  fortifications.  Captain  Black  ex- 
claimed, "  Is  this  the  fort  about  which  I  have  heard  so  much  ?  D — n  me 
but  1  'd  batter  it  down  in  two  hours  with  a  four-pounder."  Captain  Black, 
however,  took  possession  of  Astoria  in  the  name  of  his  Britannic  majesty. 


G.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


445 


arge,  sixty  shillings 


and  rebaptized  it  by  the  name  of  "  Fort  George."  He  also  insisted  on 
having  an  inventory  taken  of  the  valuable  stock  of  furs,  and  all  other 
property  purchased  from  the  American  company,  with  a  view  to  the  adop- 
tion of  ulterior  proceedings  in  England  for  the  recovery  of  tlie  value  from 
the  Norta-West  Company  ;  but  be  subsefjueatly  relinquished  this  idea,  and 
we  heard  no  mure  about  his  claims. 

The  Indians   at   the   mouth   of  the  Columbia  knew  well  that  Great 
Britain  and  America  were  distinct  nations,  and  that  they  were  then  at 
war,  but  were  ignorant  of  the  arrangement  made  between  Messrs.  McDou- 
gtd    and    McTavish,  the    former  of  whom   still  continued    as   nominal 
chief  at  the  fort.     On  the  arrival  of  the  Raccoon,  which  they  quickly 
discovered  to  be  one  of  '*King  George's  fighting  ships,""  they  repaired, 
armed,  to  the  fort,  and  requested  an  audience  of  Mr.  McDougal.     He 
was  somewhat  surprised  at  their  numbers  and  warlike  appearance,  and 
demanded  the  object  of  such  an  unusual  visit.     Comcomly,  the  principal 
chief  of  the  Chinooks,  (whose  daughter  McDougal  had  married,)  there- 
upon addressed  him  in  a  long  speech,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said  that 
King  George  had  sent  a  ship  full  of  warriors,  and  loaded  with  nothing 
but  big  guns,  to  take  the  Americans  and  make  them  all  slaves,  and  that, 
as  tiiey  (the  Americans)  were  the  first  white  men  who  settled  in  their 
country,  and  treated  the  Indians  like  good  relations,  they  had  resolved  to 
defend  them  from  King  George's  warriors,  and  were  now  ready  to  conceal 
themselves  in  the  woods  close  to  the  wharf,  from  whence  they  would  be 
able,  with  their  guns  and  arrows,  to  shoot  all  the  men  that  should  attempt 
to  land  from  the  English  boats,  while  the  peoj)Ie  in  the  fort  could  fire  at 
them  with  their  big  guns  and  rifles.     This  proposition  was  uttered  with 
an  earnestness  of  manner  that  admitted  no  doubt  of  its  sincerity.     Two 
armed  boats  from  the  Raccoon  were  approaching;  and,  had  the  people 
in  the  fort  felt  disposed  to  accede  to  the  wishes  of  the  Indians,  every  man 
in  them  would  have  been  destroyed  by  an  invisible  enemy.     Mr.  McDou- 
gal thanked  them  for  their  friendly  offer,  but  Jidded,  that,  notwithstanding 
the  nations  were  at  war,  the  people  in  the  boats  would  not  injure  him  or 
any  of  his  people,  and  therefore  requested  them  to  throw  by  their  war 
shirts  and  arms,  and  receive  the  strangers  as  their  friends.     They  at  first 
seemed  astonished  at  this  answer;  but,  on  assuring  them,  in  the  most 
positive  manner,  that  he  was  under  no  apprehensions,  they  consented  to 
give  up  their  weapons  for  a  few  days.     They  afterwards  declared  they 
were  sorry  for  having  complied  with  Mr.  McDongal's  wishes ;  for  when 
they  observed  Captain  Black,  surrounded  by  his  officers  and  marines, 
break  the  bottle  of  Port  on  the  flag-staflF,  and  hoist  the  British  ensign,  after 
changing  the  name  of  the  fort,  they  remarked  that,  however  we  might 
wish  to  conceal  the  fact,  the  Americans  were  undoubtedly  made  slaves; 
and  they  were  not  convinced  of  their  mistake  until  the  sloop  of  war  had 
departed  without  taking  any  prisoners. 


,-M  [ 


>■■*;! 


446 


PROOFS    AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[H. 


11. 


British  Statement  annexed  to  the  Protocol  of  the  sixth 
Conference,  held  at  London,  December  16th,  1826,  be- 
tween Messrs.  Huskisson  and  Addington,  the  British 
Commissioners,  and    Mr.  Gallatin,  the    Minister  Pllnii-o- 

TENTIARY    OF    THE    UnITED    StATES.* 


iJiiili  nm 


'pit! 

Mi' 


*4 

M 


■  i- 

:  .'\ 

i' 

,   y 

;  r  / 

'  >  ■  ■■ 

1 

|l| 

i 

m 

The  government  of  Great  Britain,  in  proposing  to  renew,  for  a  further 
term  of  years,  the  third  article  of  the  convention  of  1818,  respecting  the 
territory  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, regrets  that  it  has  been  found  impossible,  in  the  present  negotiation, 
to  agree  upon  aline  of  boundary  which  should  separate  those  parts  of  that 
territory,  whicli  might  henceforward  be  occupied  or  settled  by  the  subjects 
of  Great  Britain,  from  the  parts  which  would  remain  open  to  occupancy 
and  settlement  by  the  United  States. 

To  establish  such  a  boundary  must  be  the  ultimate  object  of  both 
countries.  With  this  object  in  contemplation,  and  from  a  persuasion  that 
a  part  of  the  dilKculties  which  have  hitherto  prevented  its  attainment  is 
to  be  attributed  to  a  misconception,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  of 
the  claims  and  views  of  Great  Britain  in  regard  to  the  territory  in  ques- 
tion, the  British  plenipotentiaries  deem  it  advisable  to  bring  under  the 
notice  of  the  American  plenipotentiary  a  full  and  explicit  exposition  of 
those  claims  and  views. 

As  preliminary  to  this  discussion,  it  is  highly  desirable  to  mark  dis- 
tinctly the  broad  difference  between  the  nature  of  the  rights  claimed  by 
Great  Britain  and  those  asserted  by  the  United  States,  in  respect  to  the 
territory  in  question. 

Over  a  large  portion  of  that  territory,  namely,  from  the  4'2d  degree 
to  the  '10th  degr'^c  L.f  nortli  latitude,  the  United  States  claim  full  and  ex- 
clusive sovereignty. 

Great  Britain  claims  no  cxclusioc  sovrrn^ntif  ovrr  any  portion  of  that 
territory.  Her  present  claim,  not  in  respect  to  any  part,  but  to  the  whole, 
is  limited  to  a  right  of  joint  occupancy,  in  common  with  other  states, 
leaving  the  right  of  exclusive  dominion  in  abeyance. 

In  other  words,  the  pretensions  of  the  United  States  tend  to  the  ejec- 
tion of  all  other  nations,  and,  among  the  rest,  of  Great  Britain,  from  all 
right  of  settlement  in  the  district  claimed  by  the  United  States. 

The  pretensions  of  Great  Britain,  on  the  contrary,  tend  to  the  mere 
maintenance  of  her  uwn  rights,  in  resistaace  to  the  exclusive  character  of 
the  pretensions  of  the  United  States. 

Having  thus  stated  the  nature  of  the  respective  claims  of  the  two 
parties,  the  British  plenipotentiaries  will  now  examine  the  grounds  on 
which  those  claims  are  founded. 

*  This  statement,  published  with  the  documents  accompanying  President  Adams's 
message  to  Congress  of  December  TJth,  li^27,  is  here  inserted  in  full,  chiefly  because 
reference  is  frequently  made  to  it  in  the  preceding  History,  in  which  its  numerous 
tiiisstdtements  are  exposed  and  refuted.  See  page  347  of  the  History,  and  other  pages 
to  which  reference  is  made  bj'  note. 


H.] 


PROOFS    AND    .'.LUSTRATIONS. 


447 


The  claims  of  the  United  States  arc  urged  upon  three  grounds : 

1st.   As  resulting  from  their  own  proprr  right. 

2dly.  As  resulting  from  a  right  derived  to  them  from  Spain ;  that 
power  having,  by  the  treaty  of  Florida,  concluded  with  the  United  States 
in  1819,  ceded  to  the  latter  all  their  rights  and  claims  on  the  western 
coast  of  America  north  of  the  42d  degree. 

3diy.  As  resulting  from  a  right  derived  to  them  from  France,  to 
whom  the  United  States  succeeded,  by  treaty,  in  possession  of  the 
province  of  Louisiana. 

The  first  right,  or  right  proper,  of  the  United  States,  is  founded  on 
the  iilleged  discovery  of  the  Columbia  River  by  Mr.  Gray,  of  Boston, 
who,  in  1792,  entered  that  river,  and  e.xplored  it  to  some  distance  from 
its  mouth. 

To  this  are  added  the  first  exploration,  by  Lewis  and  Clarke,  of  a 
main  branch  of  the  same  river,  from  its  source  downwards,  and  also  the 
alleged  priority  of  settlement,  by  citizens  of  the  United  States,  of  the 
country  in  the  vicinity  of  the  same  river. 

The  second  right,  or  right  derived  from  Spain,  is  founded  on  the  alleged 
prior  discovery  of  the  region  in  dispute  by  Spanish  navicr;it  -i,  of  whom 
the  chief  were,  1st,  Cabrillo,  who,  in  154:1,  visited  that  c<  as  far  as  44 
degrees  north  latitude;  2d,  De  Fuca,  who,  as  it  is  afiirnied,  in  1598, 
entered  the  straits  known  by  his  name,  in  latitude  49  degrees;  3d, 
Guelli,  who,  in  158*2,  is  said  to  have  pushed  his  researches  as  high  as 
57  degrees  north  latitude;  4th,  Perez,  and  others,  who,  between  the  years 
1774  and  1792,  visited  Nootka  Sound  and  the  adjacent  coasts. 

The  third  right,  derived  from  the  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the  United 
States,  is  founded  on  the  assumption  that  that  province,  its  boundaries 
never  having  been  exactly  defined  lonffitudinol/i/,  may  fairly  be  as- 
serted to  extend  westward  across  the  Ilocky  Mountains,  to  the  shore 
of  the  Pacific. 

Before  the  merits  of  these  respective  claims  are  considered,  it  is 
necessary  to  observe  that  one  only  out  of  the  three  can  be  valid. 

They  are,  in  fact,  claims  obviously  incompatible  the  one  with  the 
other.  If,  for  example,  the  title  of  Spain  by  first  discovery,  or  the  title 
of  France  as  the  original  possessor  of  Louisiana,  be  valid,  then  must  one 
or  the  other  of  those  kingdoms  have  been  the  lawful  possessor  of  that 
territory,  at  the  moment  when  the  United  States  claim  to  have  discovered 
it.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Americans  were  the  first  discoverers,  there 
is  necessarily  an  end  of  the  Spanish  claim;  and  if  priority  of  discovery 
constitutes  the  title,  that  of  France  falls  equally  to  the  ground. 

Upon  the  question,  how  far  prior  discovery  constitutes  a  legal  claim  to 
sovereignty,  the  law  of  nations  is  somewhat  vague  and  undefined.  It  is, 
however,  admitted  by  the  most  approved  writers  that  mere  accidental 
discovery,  unattended  by  exploration  —  by  formally  taking  possession  in 
the  name  of  the  discoverer's  sovereign  —  by  occupation  and  settlement, 
more  or  less  permanent  —  by  purchase  of  the  territory — or  receiving  the 
sovereignty  from  the  natives — constitutes  the  lowest  degree  of  title,  and 
that  it  is  only  in  proportion  as  first  discovery  is  followed  by  any  or  all  of 
these  acts,  that  such  title  is  strengthened  and  confirmed. 

The  rights  conferred  by  discovery,  therefore,  must  be  discussed  on 
their  own  merits. 

But  before  the  British  plenipotentiaries  proceed  to  compare  the  relative 


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448 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[H. 


claims  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  in  this  respect,  it  will  be 
advisable  to  dispose  of  the  two  other  grounds  of  right,  put  forward  by  the 
United  States. 

The  second  ground  of  claim,  advanced  by  the  United  States,  is  the 
cession  made  by  Spain  to  the  United  States,  by  the  treaty  of  Florida, 
in  1819. 

If  the  conflicting  claims  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  in  respect  to  all 
that  part  of  the  coast  of  North  America,  had  not  been  finally  adjusted  by 
the  convention  of  Nootka,  in  the  year  1790,  and  if  all  the  arguments  and 
pretensions,  whether  resting  on  priority  of  discovery,  or  derived  from  any 
other  consideration,  had  not  been  definitively  set  at  rest  by  the  signature 
of  that  convention,  nothing  would  be  more  easy  than  to  demonstrate  that 
the  claims  of  Great  Britain  to  that  country,  as  opposed  to  those  of  Spain, 
were  so  far  from  visionary,  or  arbitrarily  assumed,  that  they  established 
more  than  a  parity  of  title  to  the  possession  of  the  country  in  question, 
either  as  against  Spain,  or  any  other  nation. 

Whatever  that  title  may  have  been,  however,  either  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain  or  on  the  part  of  Spain,  prior  to  the  convention  of  1790,  it 
was  from  thenceforward  no  longer  to  be  traced  in  vague  narratives  of 
discoveries,  several  of  them  admitted  to  be  apocryphal,  but  in  the  text  and 
stipulations  of  that  convention  itself. 

By  that  convention  it  was  agreed  that  all  parts  of  the  north-western 
coast  of  America,  not  already  occupied  at  that  time  by  either  of  the  con- 
tracting parties,  should  thenceforward  be  equally  open  to  the  subjects 
of  both,  for  all  purposes  of  commerce  and  settlement;  the  sovereignty 
remaining  in  abeyance. 

In  this  stipulation,  as  it  has  been  already  stated,  all  tracts  of  country 
claimed  by  Spain  and  Great  Britain,  or  accruing  to  either,  in  whatever 
manner,  were  included. 

The  rights  of  Spain  on  that  coast  were,  by  the  treaty  of  Florida,  in 
1819,  conveyed  by  Spain  to  the  United  States.  With  those  rights  the 
United  States  necessarily  succeeded  to  the  limitations  by  which  they 
were  defined,  and  the  obligations  under  which  they  were  to  be  exercised. 
From  those  obligations  and  limitations,  as  contracted  towards  Great 
Britain,  Great  Britain  cannot  be  expected  gratuitously  to  release  those 
countries,  merely  because  the  rights  of  the  party  originally  bound  have 
been  transferred  to  a  third  power. 

The  third  ground  of  claim  of  the  United  States  rests  on  the  right 
supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  cession  to  them  of  Louisiana  by 
France. 

In  arguing  this  branch  of  the  question,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
examine  in  detail  the  very  dubious  point  of  the  assumed  extent  of  that 
province,  since,  by  the  treaty  between  France  and  Spain  of  1763,  the 
whole  of  that  territory,  defined  or  undefined,  real  or  ideal,  was  ceded  by 
France  to  Spain,  and,  consequently,  belonged  to  Spain,  not  only  in  1790, 
when  the  convention  of  Nootka  was  signed  between  Great  Britain  and 
Spain,  but  also  subsequently,  in  1792,  the  period  of  Gray's  discovery  of 
the  nouth  of  the  Columbia.  If,  then,  Louisiana  embraced  the  country 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  the  south  of  the  49th  parallel  of  htitude, 
it  must  have  embraced  the  Columbia  itself,  which  that  parallel  intersects; 
and,  consequently,  Gray's  discovery  must  have  been  made  in  a  country 
avowedly  already  appropriated  to  Spain,  and,  if  so  appropriated,  neces< 


.    I 

I 


[H. 

Ills  respect,  it  will  be 
It,  put  forward  by  the 

United  States,  is  the 
he  treaty  of  Florida, 

lain,  in  respect  to  all 
en  finally  adjusted  by 
all  the  arguments  and 
,  or  derived  from  any 
rest  by  the  signature 
n  to  demonstrate  thut 
sed  to  those  of  Spain, 
that  they  established 
country  in  question, 

either  on  the  part  of 
ionvention  of  1790,  it 
1  vague  narratives  of 
al,  but  in  the  text  and 

of  the  north-western 
I  by  either  of  the  con- 
open  to  the  subjects 
nent;  the  sovereignty 

[  all  tracts  of  country 
.0  either,  in  whatever 

treaty  of  Florida,  in 
Vith  those  rights  the 
tions  by  which  they 
were  to  be  exercised, 
acted  towards  Great 
usly  to  release  those 
)riginally  bound  have 

IS  rests  on  the  right 
im  of  Louisiana   by 

not  be  necessary  to 
sumed  extent  of  that 
Spain  of  1763,  the 
ideal,  was  ceded  by 
lin,  not  only  in  1790, 
;n  Great  Britain  and 
f  Gray's  discovery  of 
mbraced  the  country 
th  parallel  of  latitude, 
at  parallel  intersects; 
made  in  a  country 
appropriated,  neces- 


Hj 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


44d 


//: 


sarily  included,  with  all  other  Spanish  possessions  and  claims  in  that 
quarter,  in  the  stipulations  of  the  Nootka  convention. 

Even  if  it  could  be  shown,  therefore,  that  the  district  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  was  within  the  boundaries  of  Louisiana,  that  circum- 
stance would  in  no  way  assist  the  claim  of  the  United  States. 

It  may,  nevertheless,  be  worth  while  to  expose,  in  a*few  words,  the 
futility  of  the  attempt  to  include  that  district  within  those  boundaries. 

For  this  purpose,  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  original  grant  of 
Louisiana  made  to  De  Crozat  by  Louis  XIV.,  shortly  after  its  discovery 
by  La  Salle.  That  province  is  therein  expressly  described  as  "the 
country  drained  by  the  waters  entering,  directly  or  indirectly,  into  the 
Mississippi."  Now,  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  any  of  the  tributaries 
of  the  Mississippi  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  from  west  to  east,  it  is 
difficult  to  conceive  how  any  part  of  Louisiana  can  be  found  to  the  west 
of  that  ridge. 

There  remains  to  be  considered  the  first  ground  of  claim  advanced 
by  the  United  States  to  the  territory  in  question,  namely,  that  founded 
on  their  own  proper  right  as  first  discoverers  and  occupiers  of  that 
territory. 

If  the  discovery  of  the  country  in  question,  or  rather  the  mere  en- 
trance into  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  by  a  private  American  citizen,  be, 
as  the  United  States  assert,  (although  Great  Britain  is  far  from  admitting 
the  correctness  of  the  assertion,)  a  valid  ground  of  national  and  exclusive 
claim  to  all  the  country  situated  between  the  42d  and  49th  parallels  Of 
latitude,  then  must  any  preceding  discovery  of  the  same  country,  by  an 
individual  of  any  other  nation,  invest  such  nation  with  a  more  valid, 
because  a  prior,  claim  to  that  country. 

Now,  to  set  aside,  for  the  present,  Drake,  Cook,  and  Vancouver,  who  all 
of  them  either  took  possession  of,  or  touched  at,  various  points  of  the  coast 
in  question.  Great  Britain  can  show  that  in  1788  —  that  is,  four  years 
before  Gray  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  —  Mr.  Meares,* 
a  lieutenant  of  the  royal  navy,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  East  India 
Company  on  a  trading  expedition  to  the  north-west  coast  of  America, 
had  already  minutely  explored  that  coast,  from  the  49th  degree  to  the  45th 
degree  north  latitude ;  had  taken  formal  possession  of  the  Straits  of  De 
Fuca,  in  the  name  of  his  sovereign ;  had  purchased  land,  trafficked  and 
formed  treaties  with  the  natives;  and  had  actually  entered  the  hdy  of  the 
Columbia,  to  the  northern  headland  of  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Cape 
Disappointment  —  a  name  which  it  bears  to  this  day. 

Dixon,  Scott,  Duncan,  Strange,  and  other  private  British  traders,  had 
also  visited  these  shores  and  countries  several  years  before  Gray ;  but  the 
single  example  of  Meares  suffices  to  quash  Gray's  claim  to  prior  discovery. 
To  the  other  navigators  above  mentioned,  therefore,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
refer  more  particularly. 

It  may  be  worth  while,  however,  to  observe,  with  regard  to  Meares, 
that  his  account  of  his  voyages  was  published  in  London  in  August, 
1790;  that  is,  two  years  before  Gray  is  even  pretended  to  have  entered 
the  Columbia. 

To  that  account  are  appended,  first,  extracts  from  his  log-book ; 
secondly,  maps  of  the  coasts  and  harbors  which  he  visited,  in  which  every 


fei!h: 


Ml  ;• 


?v 


See  p.  177. 


57 


450 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[H. 


K-:' 


Hi 


>^<i'i^.^/m^ 


part  of  the  coast  in  question,  including  the  bay  of  the  Columbia,  {into 
which  the  log  expressly  states  that  Meares  entered,)  is  minutely  laid  down, 
its  delineation  tallying,  in  almost  every  particular,  with  Vancouver's  sub- 
sequent survey,  and  with  the  description  found  in  all  the  best  maps  of 
that  part  of  the  world,  adopted  at  this  moment ;  thirdly,  the  account  in 
question  actually  contains  an  engraving,  dated  in  August,  1790,  of  the 
entrance  of  De  Fuca's  Straits,  executed  after  a  design  taken  in  June, 
1788,  by  Meares  himself. 

With  these  physical  evidences  of  authenticity,  it  is  as  needless  to 
contend  for,  as  it  is  impossible  to  controvert,  the  truth  of  Meares's 
statement. 

It  was  only  on  the  Mth  of  September,  1788,  that  the  Washington, 
commanded  by  Mr.  Gray,  first  made  her  appearance  at  Nootka. 

If,  therefore,  any  claim  to  these  countries,  as  between  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States,  is  to  be  deduced  from  priority  of  the  discovery,  the 
above  exposition  of  dates  and  facts  suffices  to  establish  that  claim  in  flEivor 
of  Great  Britain,  on  a  basis  too  firm  to  be  shaken. 

It  must,  indeed,  be  admitted  that  Mr.  Gray,  finding  himself  in  the 
bay  formed  by  the  discharge  of  the  waters  of  the  Columbia  into  the 
Pacific,  was  the  first  to  ascertain  that  this  bay  formed  the  outlet  of  a 
great  river  —  a  discovery  which  had  escaped  Lieutenant  Meares,  when, 
in  1788,  four  years  before,  he  entered  the  same  bay. 

But  can  it  be  seriously  urged  that  this  single  step  in  the  progress  of 
discovery  not  only  wholly  supersedes  the  prior  discoveries,  both  of  the 
bay  and  the  coast,  by  Lieutenant  Meares,  but  equally  absorbs  the  subse- 
quent exploration  of  the  river  by  Captain  Vancouver,  for  near  a  hundred 
miles  above  the  point  to  which  Mr.  Gray's  ship  had  proceeded,  the  formal 
taking  possession  of  it  by  that  British  navigator,*  in  the  name  of  his 
sovereign,  and  also  all  the  other  discoveries,  explorations,  and  temporary 
possession  and  occupation  of  the  ports  and  harbors  on  the  const,  as  well 
of  the  Pacific  as  within  the  Straits  of  De  Fuca,  up  to  the  49th  parallel 
of  latitude  ? 

This  pretension,  however,  extraordinary  as  it  is,  does  not  embrace 
the  whole  of  the  claim  which  the  United  States  build  upon  the  limited 
discovery  of  Mr.  Gray,  namely,  that  the  bay  of  which  Cape  Disappoint- 
ment is  the  northernmost  headland,  is,  in  fact,  the  embouchure  of  a 
river.  That  mere  ascertainment,  it  is  asserted,  confers  on  the  United 
States  a  title,  in  exclusive  sovereignty,  to  the  whole  extent  of  country 
drained  by  such  river,  and  by  all  its  tributary  streams. 

In  support  of  this  very  extraordinary  pretension,  the  United  States 
allege  the-  precedent  of  grants  and  charters  accorded  in  former  times  to 
companies  and  individuals,  by  various  European  sovereigns,  over  several 
parts  of  the  American  continent.  Amongst  other  instances  are  adduced 
the  charters  granted  by  Elizabeth,  James  I.,  Charles  II.,  and  George  II., 
to  sundry  British  subjects  and  associations,  as  also  the  grant  made  by 
Louis  XIV.  to  De  Crozat  over  the  tract  of  country  watered  by  the 
Mississippi  and  its  tributaries. 

But  can  such  charters  be  considered  an  acknowledged  part  of  the 
law  of  nations  7  Were  they  any  thing  more,  in  fact,  than  a  cession  to 
the  grantee  or  grantees  of  whatever  rights  the  grantor  might  suppose 

«  See  p.  248. 


H.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


451 


himself  to  possess,  to  the  exclusion  of  other  subjects  of  the  same  sov- 
ereign?—  charters  binding  and  restraining  those  only  who  were  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  grantor,  and  of  no  force  or  validity  against  the 
subjects  of  other  states,  until  recognized  by  treaty,  and  thereby  becom- 
ing a  part  of  international  law.* 

Had  the  United  States  thought  proper  to  issue,  in  1790,  by  virtue  of 
their  national  authority,  a  charter  granting  to  Mr.  Gray  the  whole  extent 
of  country  watered,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  the  River  Columbia,  such  a 
charter  would,  no  doubt,  have  been  valid  in  Mr.  Gray's  favor,  as  against 
all  other  citizens  of  the  United  States.  But  can  it  be  supposed  that  it 
would  have  been  acquiesced  in  by  either  of  the  powers.  Great  Britain 
and  Spain,  which,  in  that  same  year,  were  preparing  to  contest  by  arms 
the  possession  of  the  very  country  which  would  have  been  the  subject  of 
such  a  grant  ? 

If  the  right  of  sovereignty  over  the  territory  in  question  accrues  to 
the  United  States  by  Mr.  Gray's  discovery,  how  happens  it  that  they  never 
protested  against  the  violence  done  to  that  right  by  the  two  powers,  who, 
by  the  convention  of  1790,  regulated  their  respective  rights  in  and  over  a 
district  so  belonging,  as  it  is  now  asserted,  to  the  United  States? 

This  claim  of  the  United  States  to  the  territory  drained  by  the  Co- 
lumbia and  its  tributary  streams,  on  the  ground  of  one  of  their  citizens 
having  been  the  first  to  discover  the  entrance  of  that  river,  has  been  here 
so  far  entered  into,  not  because  it  is  considered  to  be  necessarily  entitled 
t )  notice,  since  the  whole  country  watered  by  the  Columbia  falls  within 
the  provisions  of  the  convention  of  1790,  but  because  the  doctrine  above 
alluded  to  has  been  put  forward  so  broadly,  and  with  such  confidence,  by 
the  United  States,  that  Great  Britain  considered  it  equally  due  to  herself 
and  to  other  powers  to  enter  her  protest  against  it. 

The  United  States  further  pretend  tliat  their  claim  to  the  country  in 
question  is  strengthened  and  confirmed  by  the  discovery  of  the  sources  of 
the  Columbia,  and  by  the  exploration  of  its  course  to  the  sea  by  Lewis 
and  Clarke,  in  1805-6. 

In  reply  to  this  allegation,  Great  Britain  affirms,  and  can  distinctly 
prove,  that,  if  not  before,  at  least  in  the  same  and  subsequent  years, 
her  North- Western  Trading  Company  had,  by  means  of  their  agent,  Mr. 
Thomson,  already  established  their  posts  among  the  Flat-head  and  Koo- 
tanie  tribes,  on  the  head-wates  of  the  northern  or  main  branch  of  the 
Columbia,  and  were  gradually  extending  them  down  the  principal  stream 
of  that  river;  thus  giving  to  Great  Britain,  in  this  particular,  again,  as  in 
the  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  river,  a  title  to  parity  at  least,  if  not 
priority,  of  discovery,  as  opposed  to  the  United  States.  It  was  from  those 
posts,  that,  having  heard  of  the  American  establishment  forming  in  1811, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  Mr.  Thomson  hastened  thither,  descending  the 
river,  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  that  establishment.t 

Some  stress  having  been  laid  by  the  United  States  on  the  restitution 
to  them  of  Fort  George  by  the  British,  after  the  termination  of  the  last 
war,  which  restitution  they  represent  as  conveying  a  virtual  acknowledg- 
ment by  Great  Britain  of  the  title  of  the  United  States  to  the  country  in 
which  that  post  was  situated,  —  it  is  desirable  to  state,  somewhat  in  detail, 
the  circumstances  attending  that  restitution. 


I    I 


II 


.i''j 


;l'l; 


See  p.  350. 


t  See  p.  291, 297. 


452 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[H. 


!• 


ii 


liiiPI 


ii 


In  the  year  1815,  a  demand  for  the  restoration  of  Fort  George  was 
first  made  to  Great  Britain,  by  the  American  government,  on  the  plea 
that  the  first  article  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent  stipulated  the  restitution 
to  the  United  States  of  all  posts  and  places  whatsoever,  taken  from  them 
by  the  British  during  the  war,  in  which  description  Fort  George  (Astoria) 
was  included. 

For  some  time  the  British  government  demurred  to  comply  with  the 
demand  of  the  United  States,  because  they  entertained  doubts  how  far  it 
could  be  sustained  by  the  construction  of  the  treaty. 

In  the  first  place,  the  trading  post  called  Fort  Astoria  (or  Fort 
George)  was  not  a  national  possession ;  in  the  second  place,  it  was  not 
a  military  post ;  and,  thirdly,  it  was  never  captured  from  the  Americans 
by  the  British. 

It  was,  in  fact,  conveyed  in  regular  commercial  transfer,  and  ac- 
companied by  a  bill  of  sale,  for  a  sum  of  money,  to  the  British  company, 
who  purchased  it,  by  the  American  company,  who  sold  it  of  their  own 
free  will. 

It  is  true  that  a  British  sloop  of  war  had,  about  that  time,  been  sent 
to  take  possession  of  that  post,  but  she  arrived  subsequently  to  the  trans- 
action above  mentioned,  between  the  two  companies,  and  found  the  British 
company  already  in  legal  occupation  of  their  self -acquired  property. 

In  consequence,  however,  of  that  ship  having  l)een  sent  out  with 
hostile  views,  although  those  views  were  not  carried  into  efiect,  and  in 
order  that  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  reflection  might  be  cast  upon  the 
good  faith  of  the  British  government,  the  latter  determined  to  give  the 
most  liberal  extension  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  and,  in  1818, 
the  purchase  which  the  British  company  had  made  in  1813  was  restored 
to  the  United  States.* 

Particular  care,  however,  was  taken,  on  this  occasion,  to  prevent 
any  misapprehension  as  to  the  extent  of  the  concession  made  by  Great 
Britain. 

Viscount  Castlereagh,  in  directing  the  British  minister  at  Washington 
to  intimate  the  intention  of  the  British  government  to  Mr.  Adams,  then 
secretary  of  state,  uses  these  expressions,  in  a  despatch  dated  4th  of 
February,  1818:  — 

"  You  will  observe,  that,  whilst  this  government  is  not  disposed  to 
contest  with  the  American  government  the  point  of  possession  as  it 
stood  in  the  Columbia  River  at  the  moment  of  the  rupture,  thry  are  not 
prepared  to  admit  the  validity  of  the  title  of  the  government  of  the  United 
States  to  this  settlement. 

"  In  signifying,  therefore,  to  Mr.  Adams  the  full  acquiescence  of  your 
government  in  the  reoccupation  of  the  limited  position  which  the  United 
States  held  in  that  river  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  you  will  at  the 
same  time  assert,  in  suitable  terms,  the  claim  of  Great  Britain  to  that  terri- 
tory, upon  which  the  American  settlement  must  be  considered  as  an 
encroachment." 

This  instruction  was  executed  verbally  by  the  person  to  whom  it 
was  addressed. 

The  following  is  a  transcript  of  the  act  by  which  the  fort  was 
delivered  up,  by  the  British,  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Prevost,  the  Amer- 
ican agent: — 

"  See  p.  309. 


n.} 


FROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


453 


"  In  obedience  to  the  command  of  H.  R.  H.  the  prince  regent, 
iignifird  in  a  despatch  from  the  rif^ht  honorable  the  Earl  Bathurst, 
addressed  to  the  partners  or  sigents  ofthe  North- West  Company,  bearing 
date  the  2Tth  of  January,  18 IS,  and  in  obedience  to  a  subsequent  order, 
dated  the  2Gth  July,  from  W.  H.  Sheriff,  Esq.,  captain  of  H.  M.  ship 
Andromache,  We,  the  undersigned,  do,  in  conformity  to  the  first  article 
of  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  restore  to  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
through  its  agent,  J.  P.  Prevost,  Esq.,  the  settlement  of  Fort  George, 
on  the  Columbia  River. 

"Given  under  our  hands,  in  triplicate,  at  Fort  George,  (Columbia 
River,)  this  tith  day  of  October,  1818. 

"  F.  HicKEY,  Captain  H.  M.  ship  Blossom. 
"  J.  Keith,  of  the  N.  W.  Co." 

The  following  is  the  despatch  from  Earl  Bathurst  to  the  partners  of 
the  North-West  Company,  referred  to  in  the  above  act  of  cession :  — 

"  Downing  Street,  27th  January,  1818. 

"  Intelligence  having  been  received  that  the  United  States  sloop  of 
war  Ontario  has  been  sent  by  the  American  government  to  establish  a 
settlement  on  the  Columbia  River,  which  was  held  by  that  state,  on 
the  breaking  out  of  the  last  war,  I  am  to  acquaint  you,  that  it  is  the 
prince  regent's  pleasure  {without,  hoivever,  admitting  the  right  of  that 
gov(rnmmt  to  the  possession  in  question)  that,  in  pursuance  of  the  first 
article  ofthe  treaty  of  Ghent,  due  facility  should  be  given  to  the  reoccu- 
pation  ofthe  said  settlement  by  the  officers  ofthe  United  States;  and  I  am 
to  desire  that  you  would  contribute  as  much  as  lies  in  your  power  to 
the  execution  of  his  royal  highness's  commands. 

"  I  have,  &c.  &c., 

"  Bathurst. 
"  To  the  Partners  or  Agents  ofthe  North-West  Company, 
residing  on  the  Columbia  River." 


'I  !■; 


erson  to  whom  it 


The  above  documents  put  the  case  of  the  restoration  of  Fort  Astoria 
in  too  clear  a  light  to  require  further  observation. 

The  case,  then,  of  Great  Britain,  in  respect  to  the  country  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  is  shortly  this:  — 

Admitting  that  the  United  States  have  acquired  all  the  rights  which 
Spain  possessed,  up  to  the  treaty  of  Florida,  either  in  virtue  of  discovery, 
or,  as  is  pretended,  in  right  of  Louisiana,  Great  Britain  maintains  that  the 
nature  and  extent  of  those  rights,  as  well  as  of  the  rights  of  Great  Britain, 
are  fixed  and  defined  by  the  convention  of  Nootka ;  that  these  rights  are 
equjil  for  both  parties;  and  that,  in  succeeding  to  the  rights  of  Spain, 
under  that  convention,  the  United  States  must  <iIso  have  succeeded  to  the 
obligations  which  it  imposed. 

Admitting,  further,  the  discovery  of  Mr.  Gray,  to  the  extent  already 
stated,  Great  Britain,  taking  the  whole  line  of  the  coast  in  question,  with 
its  straits,  harbors,  and  bays,  has  stronger  claims,  on  the  ground  of  prior 
discovery,  attended  with  acts  of  occupancy  and  settlement,  than  the 
United  St-ates. 

Whether,  therefore,  the  United  States  rest  their  claims  upon  the  title 


454 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[a 


«] 


of  Spain,  or  upon  that  of  prior  discovery,  or  upon  both,  Great  Britain  is 
entitled  to  place  her  claims  at  least  upon  a  parity  with  those  of  the 
United  States. 

It  is  a  fact,  admitted  by  the  United  States,  that,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Columbia  River,  there  is  no  river  which  opens  far  into  the  intvrior, 
on  the  whule  western  coast  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

In  the  interior  of  the  territory  in  question,  the  subjects  of  Great 
Britain  have  had,  for  many  yciirs,  numerous  settlements  and  trading 
posts  —  several  of  these  posts  on  the  tributary  streams  of  the  Columbia, 
several  upon  the  Columbia  itself,  some  to  the  northward,  and  others  to 
the  southward,  of  that  river ;  and  they  navigate  the  Columbia  as  the  sole 
channel  for  the  conveyance  of  their  produce  to  the  British  stations  nearest 
the  sea,  and  for  the  shipment  of  it  from  thence  to  Great  Britain.  It  is 
also  by  the  Columbia  and  its  tributary  streams  that  these  posts  and 
settlements  receive  their  annual  supplies  from  Great  Britain. 

In  the  whole  of  the  territory  in  question,  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  have  not  a  single  settlement  or  trading  post.  They  do  not  use 
that  river,  either  for  the  purpose  of  transmitting  or  receiving  any  produce 
of  their  own,  to  or  from  other  parts  of  the  world. 

In  this  state  of  the  relative  rights  of  the  two  countries,  and  of  the 
relative  exercise  of  those  rights,  the  United  States  claim  the  exclusive 
possession  of  both  banks  of  the  Columbia,  and,  consequently,  that  of  the 
river  itself;  offering,  it  is  true,  to  concede  to  British  subjects  a  conditional 
participation  in  that  navigation,  but  subject,  in  any  case,  to  the  exclusive 
jurisdiction  and  sovereignty  of  the  United  States. 

Great  Britain,  on  her  part,  offers  to  make  the  river  the  boundary; 
each  country  retaining  the  bank  of  the  river  contiguous  to  its  own  ter- 
ritories, and  the  navigation  of  it  remaining  forever  free,  and  upon  a  foot- 
ing of  perfect  equality  to  both  nations. 

To  carry  into  effect  this  proposal,  on  our  part.  Great  Britain  would 
have  to  give  up  posts  and  settlements  south  of  the  Columbia.  On  the 
part  of  the  United  States,  there  could  be  no  reciprocal  withdrawing  from 
actual  occupation,  as  there  is  not,  and  never  has  been,  a  single  American 
citizen  settled  north  of  the  Columbia. 

The  United  States  decline  to  accede  to  this  proposal,  even  when 
Great  Britain  has  added  to  it  the  further  offer  of  a  most  excellent  harbor, 
and  an  extensive  tract  of  country  on  the  Straits  of  De  Fuca  —  a  sacrifice 
tendered  in  tlie  spirit  of  accommodation,  and  for  the  sake  of  a  final 
adjustment  of  all  differences,  but  which,  having  been  made  in  this  spirit, 
is  not  to  be  considered  as  in  any  degree  recognizing  a  claim  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States,  or  as  at  all  impairing  the  existing  right  of  Great 
Britain  over  the  post  and  territory  in  question. 

Such  being  the  result  of  the  recent  negotiation,  it  only  remains  for 
Great  Britain  to  maintain  and  uphold  the  qualified  rights  which  she  now 
possesses  over  the  whole  of  the  territory  in  question.  These  rights  are 
recorded  and  defined  in  the  convention  of  Nootka.*  They  embrace  the 
right  to  navigate  the  waters  of  those  countries,  the  right  to  settle  in  and 
over  any  part  of  them,  and  the  right  freely  to  trade  with  the  inhabitants 
and  occupiers  of  the  same. 

These  rights  have   been  peaceably  exercised  ever  since  the   date  of 


*  See  considerations  on  the  Nootka  convention,  at  p.  213. 


I 


I.] 


PROOFS    AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


455 


that  convention ;  that  is,  for  a  period  of  near  forty  year?.  Under  that 
convention,  valuable  British  interests  have  grown  up  in  those  countries. 
It  is  fully  admitted  that  the  United  States  possess  the  same  rights, 
although  they  have  been  exercised  by  them  only  in  a  single  instance, 
and  have  not,  since  the  year  1S13,  been  exercised  at  all.  But  beyond 
these  rights  they  possess  none. 

To  the  interests  and  establishments  which  British  industry  and  enter- 
prise have  created,  Great  Britain  owes  protection.  That  protection  wih 
be  given,  both  as  regards  settlement  and  freedom  of  trade  and  navigation, 
with  every  attention  not  to  infringe  the  coordinate  rights  of  the  United 
States;  it  being  the  earnest  desire  of  the  British  government,  so  long 
as  the  joint  occupancy  continues,  to  regulate  its  own  obligations  by  the 
same  rule  which  governs  the  obligations  of  any  other  occupying  party. 

Fully  sensible,  at  the  same  time,  of  the  desirableness  of  a  more 
definite  settlement,  as  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  the 
British  government  will  be  ready,  at  any  time,  to  terminate  the  present 
state  of  joint  occupancy  by  an  agreement  of  delimitation;  but  such 
arrangement  only  can  be  admitted  as  shall  not  derogate  from  the  rights 
of  Great  Britain,  as  acknowledged  by  treaty,  nor  prejudice  the  advantages 
which  British  subjects,  under  the  same  sanction,  now  enjoy  in  that  part 
of  the  world. 


I. 


Documents  relating  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

This  company  was  incorporated  by  a  charter  from  King  Charles  II. 
of  England,  issued  on  the  16th  of  May,  1669;  a  few  extracts  from  which 
will  be  sufficient  to  show  the  powers  of  the  company  and  the  extent  of  its 
territories  under  that  grant. 


(!•) 


since  the   date  of 


His  Majesty's  Royal  Charter  to  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Hud- 
son's Bay.. 

"  Charles  the  Second,  by  the  grace  of  God,  king  of  England,  dtc,  to 
all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come.  Greeting :  Whereas  our  dearly 
beloved  cousin.  Prince  Rupert  [and  seventeen  others,  whose  nam^s  and 
titles  follow]  have,  at  their  own  great  cost  and  charges,  undertaken  an  ex- 
pedition for  Hudson's  Bay,  in  the  north-west  parts  of  America,  for  the  dis- 
covery of  a  new  passage  into  the  South  Sea,  and  for  the  finding  of  some 
trade  for  furs,  minerals,  and  other  considerable  commodities  ;  and  by  such 
their  undertaking  have  already  made  such  discoveries  as  do  encourage  them 
to  proceed  farther  in  performance  of  their  said  design,  by  means  whereof 
there  may  probably  arise  great  advantage  to  us  and  our  kingdoms ;  and 


<  I  vi 


^i,;- 


456 


PROOFS    AND    ILLCSTRATIONS. 


[I 


wherens  the  said  undertakers,  for  their  further  encouragement  in  the  snid 
design,  have  humbly  besought  us  to  incorpornto  them,  nud  to  grant  unto 
them  and  their  succesHors  the  whole  trade  and  conunerce  ol'  all  thuso 
seas,  straits  and  bays,  rivers,  hikes,  creeks  and  soundM,  in  whatsoever  lati* 
tude  they  shall  be,  that  lie  within  the  entrance  of  the  straits  commonly 
called  JIudsoii's  Straitg,  together  with  nil  the  lands,  countries,  and  terri- 
tories, upon  the  coasts  and  contines  of  the  seas,  straits,  bays,  lakes,  rivers, 
creeks,  and  sounds,  aforesaid,  which  are  not  now  actually  possessed  by 
any  of  our  subjects,  or  by  the  subjects  of  any  other  Christian  prince 
or  state ;  — 

"  Now,  know  ye,  that  we,  being  desirous  to  promote  all  endeavors  that 
may  tend  to  the  public  good  of  our  people,  and  to  encourage  the  said 
undertaking,  have,  of  our  especial  grace,  certain  knowledge,  and  mere 
motion,  given,  granted,  ratified,  and  confirmed,  and  by  these  presents,  for 
us  and  our  successors,  do  give,  grant,  ratify,  and  confirm,  unto  our  said 
cousin,  Prince  Rupert,  &c.,  that  they  and  such  others  as  shall  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  said  society,  as  is  hereafter  expressed,  shall  be  one  body 
corporate  and  politic,  in  deed  and  in  name,  by  the  name  of  T/ie  (iovrmor 
and  Company  of  Advrnttirvrs  of  England  trading  into  Hudnon's  Bay, 
•  *  *  and  at  all  times  hereafter,  shall  be  personable,  and  capal>le  in 
law,  to  have,  purchase,  receive,  possess,  enjoy,  and  retain  lands,  rents, 
privileges,  liberties,  jurisdiction,  franchises,  and  hereditaments,  of  what 
kind,  nature,  or  quality  soever  they  be,  to  them  and  their  successors." 

By  succeeding  sections  of  the  charter,  provisions  are  made — for  the 
election  of  a  governor,  a  dipttty  govtrnor,  and  a  ronimittic  of  seven 
members,  who  are  to  have  the  direction  of  all  voyages,  sales,  and  other 
business  of  the  company  —  for  the  election  of  new  members  —  and  for 
holding,  at  particular  periods,  a  general  court  of  the  company.  The 
first  company  and  their  successors  are  made  lords  proprietors  of  the 
territories  above  mentioned,  holding  the  lands  "  in  free  and  conimou 
socage,  and  not  incapitc,  or  by  knights'  service;"  and  they  are  em- 
powered to  make  all  laws  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  their 
possessicms,  which  may  "  be  reasonable,  and  not  contrary  or  repugnant, 
but  as  near  as  may  be  agreeable,  to  the  laws,  statutes,  and  customs,"  of 
England.  The  whole  trade,  fishery,  navigation,  minerals,  &-c.,  of  the 
countries,  is  granted  to  the  company  exclusively ;  all  others  of  the  king's 
subjects  being  forbidden  to  "  visit,  haunt,  frequent,  trade,  trafiic,  or 
adventure,"  therein,  under  heavy  penalties;  and  the  company  is  more- 
over empowered  "  to  send  ships,  and  to  build  fortifications,  for  the  de- 
fence of  its  possessions,  as  well  as  to  make  war  or  peace  with  all  nations 
or  people,  not  Christian,  inhabiting  those  territories,  which  are  declared 
to  be  thenceforth  "  reckoned  and  reputed  as  one  of  his  majesty's  plan- 
tations or  colonies,  in  America,  called  Rupert's  Land." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  possessed  by  its 
charter  almost  sovereign  powers  over  the  vast  portion  of  America  drained 
by  streams  entering  Hudson's  Bay.  With  regard  to  the  other  countries 
in  British  America,  north  and  west  of  Canada,  not  included  in  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company's  possessions,  and  which  were  termed,  generally,  the 
Indian  countries,  an  act  was  passed  on  the  llth  of  August,  1603,  in  the 
43d  year  of  the  reign  of  King  George  HI.,  entitled, 


d 


4 


PROOFS    Xy^   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


467 


agcmcnt  in  the  snid 
I,  niid  to  ^riint  unto 
iitiicrce  of  oil  tliuso 
I,  in  whatflocvcr  lati* 
he  HtraitH  commonly 
countric8,  and  terri- 
,  bays,  lakes,  rivers, 
Jtually  possessed  by 
er  Christian  prince 

te  all  endeavors  that 
encourage  the  said 
lowledge,  and  mere 
ly  these  presents,  for 
nfirm,  unto  our  snid 
hers  as  shall  be  ad- 
I,  shall  be  one  body 
me  of  T/i€  (itnurnor 
into  Hudson's  liny, 
able,  and  capable  in 
retain  lands,  rents, 
reditaments,  of  wli.it 
id  their  successors." 

are  made — for  the 
rommittrc  of    seven 
tes,  sales,  and  other 
members  —  and  for 
the  company.     The 
proprietors   of  the 
free  and   comnioa 
and  they  are  em- 
government  of  their 
iitrary  or  repugnant, 
and  customs,"  of 
inerals,  &-c.,  of  the 
others  of  the  king's 
It,   trade,   traffic,  or 
J  company  is  more- 
ications,  for  the  de- 
face with  ail  nations 
which  are  declared 
his  majesty's  plan- 
Iffrtrf." 

any  possessed  by  its 
of  America  drained 
the  other  countries 
icluded  in  the  Hud- 
srmed,  generally,  the 
iVugust,  1803,  in  the 


(2.) 

••  An  Act  for  extending  the  Jurisdiction  of  the  Courts  of  Justice  in  the 
Provinces  of  Lower  and  Upper  Canada  to  the  Trial  and  Punishment 
of  Persons  guilty  of  Crimes  and  Offences  within  certain  Parts  of 
North  America^  adjoining  to  the  said  Provinces." 

By  this  act,  oflfences  committed  within  the  Indian  territories  were  to 
be  tried  in  the  same  manner  as  if  committed  within  the  provinces  of 
Lower  and  Upper  Canada ;  the  governor  of  Lower  Canada  may  em- 
power persons  to  act  as  justices  of  the  peace  for  the  Indian  territories, 
for  committing  offenders  until  they  are  conveyed  to  Canada  for  trial,  dtc. 
This  act  remained  in  force  until  July  2d,  \&l\   when  was  passed, 


(3.) 

•'  An  Act  for  regulating  the  Fur  Trade,  and  establishing  a  Criminal  and 
Civil  Jurisdiction,  within  certain  Parts  of  North  America* 

"  Whereas  the  competition  in  the  fur  trade  between  the  Governor  and 
Company  of  Adventurers  of  England  trading  into  Hudson's  Bay,  and  cer- 
tain associations  of  persons  trading  under  the  name  of  '  The  North-West 
Company  of  Montreal,'  has  been  found,  for  some  years  past,  to  be  pro- 
ductive of  great  inconvenience  and  loss,  not  only  to  the  said  company  and 
associations,  but  to  the  said  trade  in  general,  and  also  of  great  injury  to 
the  native  Indians,  and  of  other  persons,  subjects  of  his  majesty  :  And 
whereas  the  animosities  and  feuds  arising  from  such  competition  have 
also,  fr)r  some  years  past,  kept  the  interior  of  America,  to  the  northward 
and  westward  of  the  provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  and  of  the 
territories  of  the  United  States  of  America,  in  a  state  of  continued  disturb- 
ance: And  whereas  many  breaches  of  the  peace,  and  violence,  extending 
to  the  loss  of  lives,  and  considerable  destruction  of  property  have  continu- 
ally occurred  therein  :  And  whereas,  for  remedy  of  such  evils,  it  is  expe- 
dient and  necessary  that  some  more  effectual  regulations  should  be  estab- 
lished for  the  apprehending,  securing,  and  bringing  to  justice,  all  persons 
committing  such  offences,  and  that  his  majesty  should  be  empowered 
to  regulate  the  said  trade  :  And  whereas  doubts  have  been  entertained, 
whether  the  provisions  of  an  act  passed  in  the  forty-third  year  of  the  reign 
of  his  late  majesty.  King  George  the  Third,  intituled  'An  Act  for  extend- 
ing the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  justice  in  the  provinces  of  Lower  and 
Upper  Canada  to  the  trial  and  punishment  of  persons  guilty  of  crimes  and 
offences  within  certain  parts  of  North  America,  adjoining  to  the  said  prov- 
inces,' extended  to  the  territories  granted  by  charter  to  the  said  governor 
and  company  ;  and  it  is  expedient  that  such  doubts  should  be  removed, 
and  that  the  said  act  should  be  further  extended :  Be  it  therefore 
enacted,  by  the  king's  most  excellent  majesty,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  lords  spiritual  and  temporal,  and  commons,  in  this  present 
Parliament  assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  'That,  from  and 


I     ! 


K. 


68 


Seep.  325. 


458 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[t 


i\h 


after  the  passing  of  this  act,  it  Hhali  I>r  Inwfiil  for  his  mnjcHty,  his  hcirn  or 
successors,  to  make  gruiitM  or  ^ivo  \u»  roytil  li«'rns(>,  under  the  hniui  nml 
seal  of  one  of  his  mnjcHty's  |)riiici|iiil  Hccrctarius  tif  Mtiitc,  to  uuy  body  cor- 
porate or  company,  or  perHitn  or  p('rN<)U!<,  of  or  for  thu  excUi.sivu  privilc^^o 
of  trading  with  the  Indians  in  all  tiuch  pnrtN  of  North  Atnrrira  ns  Hhall  hn 
specified  in  any  such  grants  or  liceuHes  respectively,  not  being  part  of 
the  lands  or  territories  heretofore  granted  to  the  said  (Jovernor  and  Com- 
pany of  Adventurers  of  Ktifjland  trading  to  lluthon's  Hay,  and  not  bein^ 
part  of  any  of  his  majesty's  provinces  in  North  Amrrira,  or  of  any  lands 
or  territories  belonging  to  the  United  States  o(  Amerira ;  and  all  such 
grants  and  licenses  shall  be  good,  valid,  and  eflectual,  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  to  all  such  bodies  corporate,  or  conipiuiics,  or  persons,  tlie  sole 
and  exclusive  privilege  of  trading  with  the  liulians  in  all  sucli  parts  nf 
North  America^  (except  as  hereinafter  excepted,)  as  shall  be  specified  in 
such  grants  or  licenses,  any  thing  contained  in  any  act  or  acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, or  any  law,  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

"  II.  Provided  always,  and  be  it  further  enacted.  That  no  such  grant 
or  license,  made  or  given  by  his  majesty,  his  heirs  or  successors,  of  any 
such  exclusive  privileges  of  trading  with  the  Indinns  in  such  parts  of 
North  America  as  aforesaid,  shall  be  m;idc  or  given  for  any  longer  period 
than  twenty-one  years ;  and  no  rent  shiill  be  required  or  demanded  for  or 
in  respect  of  any  such  grant  or  license,  or  any  privileges  given  therelty 
under  the  prr>vision8  of  this  act,  for  the  first  period  of  twenty-one  yeiirs ; 
and  from  and  af\er  the  expiration  of  such  first  period  of  twenty-one  years, 
it  shall  be  lawful  for  his  majesty,  his  heirs  or  successors,  to  reserve  such 
rents  in  any  future  grants  or  licenses  to  be  made  to  the  same  or  any  other 
parties,  as  shall  be  deemed  just  and  reasonable,  with  security  for  the  pay- 
ment thereof;  and  such  rents  shall  be  deemed  part  of  the  land  revenues 
of  his  majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors,  and  be  applied  and  accounted  for 
as  the  other  land  revenues  of  his  majesty,  his  heirs  or  successors,  shall, 
at  the  time  of  payment  of  any  such  rent  being  made,  be  applied  and  ac- 
counted for. 

"  III.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That,  from  and  after  the  passing  of 
this  act,  the  Ciovernor  and  Company  of  Adventiirers  trnding  to  IJiirlson's 
Bay,  and  every  body  corporate,  and  company,  and  person,  to  whom  every 
such  grant  or  license  shall  be  made  or  given,  as  aforesaid,  shall  respec- 
tively keep  accurate  registers  of  all  persons  in  their  employ  in  any  parts 
of  North  America,  and  shall,  once  in  each  year,  return  to  his  majesty's  sec- 
retaries of  state  accurate  duplicates  of  such  registers,  and  shall  also  enter 
into  such  security  as  shall  be  required  by  his  majesty  for  the  due  execu- 
tion of  all  processes,  criminal  and  civil,  as  well  within  the  territories 
included  in  any  such  grant,  as  within  those  granted  by  charter  to  the 
Governor  and  Company  of  Adventurers  trading  to  Ifiuhon's  Bay,  and  for 
the  producing  or  delivering  into  safe  custody,  for  purpose  of  trial,  of  all 
persons  in  their  employ  or  acting  under  their  authority,  who  shall  be 
charged  with  ".uy  criminal  offence,  and  also  for  the  due  and  faithful 
observance  of  all  such  rules,  regulations,  and  stipulations,  as  shall  be  con- 
tained in  any  such  grant  or  license,  either  for  diminishing  or  preventing 
the  sale  or  distribution  of  spirituous  liquors  to  the  Indians,  or  for  pro- 
moting their  moral  and  religious  improvement,  or  for  any  other  object 
which  his  majesty  may  deem  necessary  for  the  remedy  or  prevention  of 
the  other  evils  which  have  hitherto  been  found  to  exist. 


I] 


i'RUOrS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


469 


"  IV.  And  whorona,  by  a  convontion  entered  into  between  his  majesty 
nnd  the  United  Stiite.s  of  Aincrirn,  it  wiih  stipulated  and  n^reed  thut  iitiy 
country  on  tin;  iiorth-wi'st  coast  of  Americn  to  the  westward  of  the  iStonif 
Mimntaiiii,  sliould  he  Irui;  and  open  to  the  citizciiH  and  suhjects  of  the 
two  powers,  tor  the  term  of  ten  yearn  from  the  date  of  the  signature  of 
that  convention  ;  Be  it  therefore  enacted,  That  nothing  in  this  act  con< 
tamed  shall  be  deemed  or  construed  to  authorize  any  body  corporate, 
company,  or  person,  to  whom  his  majcHty  may  have,  under  the  provisions 
of  this  act,  made  a  grant  or  |,;ivcn  a  license  of  exclusive  trade  with  the 
Indians  in  such  parts  of  North  America  as  aforesaid,  to  claim  or  exercise 
any  such  exclusive  trade  within  the  limits  specified  in  the  snid  article,  to 
the  prejudice  or  exclusion  of  any  citizens  of  the  said  United  States  of 
Amerira,  who  may  be  enj{a{(ed  in  the  said  trade  :  Provided  always,  that 
no  British  subject  shall  trade  with  the  Indians  within  such  limits  without 
such  ((rant  or  license  as  is  by  this  act  re(|uired. 

"  V.  And  be  it  declared  and  enacted.  That  the  said  act,  passed  in  the 
forty-third  year  of  the  reign  of  his  late  majesty,  intituled  An  Act  for  er- 
tenilinif  the  Jurisdiction  of  thr.  courts  of  justice  in  the  provinces  of  Lower 
»;ir/ Upper  Canada,  to  the  trial  and  punishment  of  persons  guilty  of  crimes 
and  ojf'rnccs  within  certain  parts  of  North  America  adjoining  to  the  said 
provinces,  and  all  the  clauses  nnd  provisoes  therein  contained,  shall  be 
deemed  and  construed,  and  it  is  and  are  hereby  respectively  declared,  to 
extend  to  and  over,  and  to  be  in  full  force  in  and  through,  all  the  territo- 
ries heretofore  granted  to  the  Company  of  Adventurers  o(  England  trading 
to  Hudson's  Bait ;  any  thing  in  any  act  or  acts  of  Parliament,  or  this  act, 
or  in  any  grant  or  charter  to  the  company,  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

**  VI.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That,  from  and  after  the  passing  of 
this  act,  the  courts  of  judicature  now  existing,  or  which  may  be  hereafter 
established  in  the  province  of  Upper  Canada,  shall  have  the  same  civil 
jurisdiction,  power,  and  authority,  as  well  in  the  cognizance  of  suits  as  in 
the  issuing  process,  mesne  and  Anal,  and  in  all  other  respects  whatsoever, 
within  the  said  Indian  territories,  and  other  parts  of  America  not  within 
the  limits  of  either  of  the  provinces  of  Lower  or  Upprr  Canada,  or  of  any 
civil  government  of  the  United  States,  as  the  said  courts  have  or  are 
invested  with  within  the  limits  of  the  said  provinces  of  Lower  or  Upper 
Canada  respectively ;  and  that  all  and  every  contract,  agreement,  debt, 
li  ibility,  and  demand  whatsoever,  made,  entered  into,  incurred,  or  arising 
within  the  said  Indian  territories  and  other  parts  of  America,  and  all  and 
every  wrong  and  injury  to  the  person,  or  to  propertif,  real  or  personal,  com- 
mitted or  done  within  the  same,  shall  be,  and  be  deemed  to  be,  of  the  same 
inlure,  and  be  cognizable  by  the  same  courts,  magistrates,  or  justices  of  the 
peace,  and  be  tried  in  the  same  manner,  and  subject  to  the  same  conse- 
quences, in  all  respects,  as  if  the  same  had  been  made,  entered  into,  incurred, 
arisen,  committed,  or  done,  within  tlie  said  province  of  Upper  Canada ;  any 
thing  in  any  act  or  acts  of  Parliament,  or  grant,  or  charter,  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding:  Provided  always,  that  all  such  suits  and  actions  relating 
to  lands,  or  to  any  claims  in  respect  of  land,  not  being  within  the  province 
of  Upper  Canada,  shall  be  decided  according  to  the  laws  of  that  part  of 
the  United  Kingdom  called  England,  and  shall  not  l>e  subject  to  or  affected 
by  any  local  acts,  statutes,  or  laws,  of  the  legislature  of  Upper  Canada. 

"  VII.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  process,  writs,  orders,  judg- 
ments, decrees,  and  acts  whatsoever,  to  be  issued,  made,  delivered,  given, 
and  done,  by  or  under  the  authority  of  the  said  courts,  or  either  of  them, 


460 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[t 


I         4 


shall  have  tne  same  force,  authority,  and  eflfect,  within  the  said  Indian 
territory  and  other  parts  of  Amrricn  as  aforesaid,  as  the  same  now  have 
within  the  said  province  of  Upper  Canada. 

"  VJIf.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  gov- 
ernor, or  lieutenant-governor,  or  person  administering  the  government 
for  the  time  being,  of  Lower  Canada,  by  commission  under  his  hand  and 
seal,  to  authorize  all  persons  who  shall  be  appointed  justices  of  the  peace 
under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  within  the  said  Indian  territories,  or  other 
parts  oi  America  as  aforesaid,  or  any  other  person  who  shall  be  specially 
named  in  any  such  commission,  to  act  as  a  commissioner  within  the  same, 
for  the  purpose  of  executing,  enforcing,  and  carrying  into  effect,  all  such 
process,  writs,  orders,  judgments,  decrees,  and  acts,  which  shall  be  issued, 
made,  delivered,  given,  or  done,  by  the  said  courts  of  judicature,  and  which 
may  require  to  be  enforced  and  executed  within  the  said  Indian  territo- 
ries, or  such  other  parts  o( North  America  as  aforesaid;  and  in  case  any 
person  or  persons  whatsoever,  residing  or  being  within  the  said  Indian 
territories,  or  such  other  parts  of  America  as  aforesaid,  shall '  refuse  to 
obey  or  perform  any  such  process,  writ,  order,  judgment,  decree,  or  act, 
of  the  said  courts,  or  shall  resist  or  oppose  the  execution  thereof,  it  shall 
and  may  be  lawful  for  the  said  justices  of  the  peace  or  commissioners, 
and  they,  or  any  of  them,  are,  and  is,  hereby  required,  on  the  same  being 
proved  before  him,  by  the  oath  or  atHdavit  of  one  credible  witness,  to 
commit  the  said  person  or  persons  so  offending  as  aforesaid  to  custody, 
in  order  to  his  or  their  being  conveyed  to  Upper  Canada ;  and  that  it 
shall  be  lawful  for  any  such  justice  of  the  peace  or  commissioner,  or  any 
person  or  persons  acting  under  his  authority,  to  convey,  or  cause  to  be 
conveyed,  such  person  or  persons  so  offending  as  aforesaid  to  Upper  Can- 
ada, in  pursuance  of  such  process,  writ,  order,  decree,  judgment,  or  act ; 
and  such  person  and  persons  shall  be  committed  to  jail  by  the  said  court, 
on  his,  her,  or  their  being  so  brought  into  the  said  province  of  Upptr 
Canada,  by  which  such  process,  writ,  order,  decree,  judgment,  or  act,  was 
issued,  made,  delivered,  given,  or  done,  until  a  final  judgment  or  decree 
shall  have  been  pronounced  in  such  suit,  and  shall  have  been  duly  per- 
formed, and  all  costs  paid,  in  cm^e  such  person  or  persons  shall  be  a  party 
or  parties  in  such  suit,  or  until  the  trial  of  such  suit  shall  have  been  con- 
cluded, in  case  such  person  or  persons  shall  be  a  witness  or  witnesses 
therein  :  Provided  always,  that,  if  any  person  or  persons,  so  apprehended  as 
aforesaid,  shall  enter  into  a  bond  recognizance  to  any  such  justice  of  the 
peace  or  commissioner,  with  two  sufficient  sureties,  to  the  satisfaction  of 
such  justice  of  the  peace  or  commissioner,  or  the  said  courts,  conditioned 
to  obey  and  perform  such  process,  writ,  order,  judgment,  decree,  or  act,  as 
aforesaid,  then  and  in  such  case  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  said 
justice  of  the  peace  or  commissioner,  or  the  said  courts,  to  discharge 
such  person  or  persons  out  of  custody. 

'*  IX.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That,  in  case  such  person  or  persons 
shall  not  perform  and  fulfil  the  condition  or  conditions  of  such  recogni- 
zance, then  and  in  such  case  it  shall  and  may  be  lawftd  for  any  such 
justice  or  commissioner,  and  he  is  hereby  required,  to  assign  such  recog- 
nizance to  the  plaintiff  or  plaintiffs,  in  any  suit  in  which  such  process, 
writ,  order,  decree,  judgment,  or  act,  shall  have  been  issued,  made,  deliv- 
ered, given,  or  done,  who  may  maintain  an  action  in  the  said  courts  in  his 
own  name  against  the  said  sureties,  and  recover  against  such  sureties  the 
full  amount  of  such  loss  or  damage  as  such  plaintiff  shall  prove  to  have 


ll 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


461 


been  sustained  by  him,  by  reason  of  the  original  cause  of  action  in  respect 
of  which  such  process,  writ,  order,  decree,  judgment,  or  act,  of  the  said 
courts  were  issued,  made,  delivered,  given,  or  done,  as  aforesaid,  notwith- 
standing any  thing  contained  in  any  charter  granted  to  the  said  Governor 
and  Company  of  Adventurers  of  England  trading  to  Hudson's  Bay. 

"  X.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  his  majesty, 
if  he  shall  deem  it  convenient  so  to  do,  to  issue  a  commission  or  com- 
missions to  any  person  or  persons  to  be  and  act  as  justices  of  the  peace 
within  such  parts  oi  America  as  aforesaid,  as  well  within  any  territories 
heretofore  granted  to  the  Company  of  Adventurers  of  England  trading  to 
Hudson's  Bay,  as  within  the  Indian  territories  of  such  other  parts  of 
America  as  aforesaid ;  and  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  court  in  the  province 
of  Upper  Canada,  in' any  case  in  which  it  shall  appear  expedient  to  have 
any  evidence  taken  by  commission,  or  any  facts  or  issue,  or  any  cause  or 
suit,  ascertained,  to  issue  a  commission  to  any  three  or  more  of  such  jus- 
tices to  take  such  evidence,  and  return  the  same,  or  try  such  issue,  and 
for  that  purpose  to  hold  courts,  and  to  issue  subpcenas  or  other  processes 
to  compel  attendance  of  plaintiffs,  defendants,  jurors,  witnesses,  and  all 
other  persons  requisite  and  essential  to  the  execution  of  the  several  pur- 
poses for  which  such  commission  or  commissions  had  issued,  and  with 
the  like  power  and  authority  as  are  vested  in  the  courts  of  the  said 
province  of  Upper  Canada;  and  any  order,  verdict,  judgment,  or  decree, 
that  shall  be  made,  found,  declared,  or  published,  by  or  before  any  court 
or  courts  held  under  and  by  virtue  of  such  commission  or  commissions, 
shall  be  considered  to  be  of  as  full  eifect,  and  enforced  in  like  manner,  as 
if  the  same  had  been  made,  found,  declared,  or  published,  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  court  of  the  said  province  ;  and  at  the  time  of  issuing  such 
commission  or  commissions  shall  be  declared  the  place  or  places  where 
such  commission  is  to  be  opened,  and  the  courts  and  proceedings  there- 
under held  ;  and  it  shall  be  at  the  same  time  provided  how  and  by  what 
means  the  expenses  of  such  commission,  and  the  execution  thereof,  shall 
be  raised  and  provided  for. 

"XI.  And  be  it  further  enacted.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  his  majesty, 
notwithstanding  any  thing  contained  in  this  act,  or  in  any  charter  granted 
to  the  said  Governor  and  Company  of  Adventurers  of  England  trading  to 
Hudson's  Bay,  from  time  to  time,  by  any  commission  under  the  great 
seal,  to  authorize  and  empthver  any  such  persons  so  appointed  justices  of 
the  peace  as  aforesaid,  to  sit  and  hold  courts  of  record  for  the  trial  of 
criminal  offences  and  misdemeanors,  and  also  of  civil  causes;  and  it  shall 
be  lawful  for  his  majesty  to  order,  direct,  and  authorize,  the  appointment 
of  proper  officers  to  act  in  aid  of  such  courts  and  justices  wi;.iin  the  juris- 
diction assigned  to  such  courts  .ind  justices,  in  any  such  commission  ; 
any  thing  in  this  act,  or  in  any  charter  of  the  Governor  and  Company  of 
Merchant  Adventurers  o(  England  trading  to  Hudson's  Bay,  to  the  con- 
trary  notwithstanding. 

•'  XII.  Provided  always,  and  be  it  further  enacted,  That  such  courts 
shall  be  constituted,  as  to  the  number  of  justices  to  preside  therein,  and 
as  to  such  places  within  the  said  territories  of  the  said  company,  or  any 
Indian  territories,  or  other  parts  of  North  America  as  aforesaid,  and  the 
times  and  manner  of  holding  the  same,  as  his  majesty  shall  from  time  to 
time  order  and  direct ;  but  shall  not  try  any  offender  upon  any  charge 
or  indictment  for  any  felony  made  the  subject  of  capital  punishment,  or 


462 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[I^ 


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11 


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li.  i    > 


for  any  ofTence,  or  passing  sentence  affecting  the  life  of  any  offender,  or 
adjudge  or  cause  any  offender  to  suffer  capital  punishment  or  transporta- 
tion, or  take  cognizance  of  or  try  any  civil  action  or  suit,  in  which  the 
cause  of  such  suit  or  action  shall  exceed  in  value  the  amount  or  sum  of 
two  hundred  pounds ;  and  in  every  case  of  any  offence  subjecting  the  per- 
son committing  the  same  to  capital  punishment  or  transportation,  the 
court  or  any  judge  of  any  such  court,  or  any  justice  or  justices  of  the 
peace,  before  whom  any  such  offender  shall  be  brought,  shall  commit  such 
offender  to  safe  custody,  and  cause  such  offender  to  be  sent  in  such  custody 
for  trial  in  the  court  of  the  province  of  Upper  Canada. 

"  XIII.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  all  judgments  given  in  any 
civil  suit  shall  be  subject  to  appeal  to  his  majesty  in  council,  in  like 
manner  as  in  other  cases  in  his  majesty's  province  of  Upper  Canada,  and 
also  in  any  case  in  which  the  right  or  title  to  any  land  shall  be  in 
question. 

"  XIV.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  nothing  in  this  act  contained 
shall  be  taken  or  construed  to  affect  any  right,  privilege,  authority,  or 
jurisdiction,  which  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Adventurers  trading  to 
Hudson's  Bay  are  by  law  entitled  to  claim  and  exercise  under  their 
charter ;  but  that  all  such  rights,  privileges,  authorities,  and  jurisdictions, 
shall  remain  in  as  full  force,  virtue,  and  effect,  as  if  this  act  had  never 
been  made;   any  thing  in  this  act  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding." 


Shortly  before  the  passage  of  this  act,  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  was 
united  with  the  North-West  Company,  or  rather  the  latter  was  merged  in 
the  former ;  and  on  the  21st  of  December,  1821,  the  king  made  a 


(4.) 

"  Grant  of  the  exclusive  Trade  with  the  Indians  of  North  America  to 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company" 

of  which  the  following  are  the  terms :  — 

"  And  whereas  the  said  Company  of  Adventurers  of  England,  trading 
into  Hudson's  Bay,  and  certain  associations  of  persons  trading  under  the 
name  of  the  North-West  Company  of  Montreal,  have  respectively  extended 
the  fur  trade  over  many  parts  of  North  America,  which  had  not  been 
before  explored :  And  whereas  the  competition  in  the  said  trade  has 
been  found,  for  some  years  past,  to  be  productive  of  great  inconvenience 
and  loss,  not  only  to  the  said  company  and  associations,  but  to  the  said 
trade  in  general,  and  also  of  great  injury  to  the  native  Indians,  and  of 
other  persons  our  subjects :  And  whereas  the  said  Governor  and  Company 
of  Adventurers  of  England,  trading  into  Hudson's  Bay.  and  William  Mc- 
Gillivray,  of  Montreal,  in  the  province  of  Lower  Canada,  Esquire,  Simon 
McGillivray,  of  Suffolk  Lane,  in  the  city  of  London,  merchant,  and  Edward 
Ellice,  of  Spring  Gardens,  in  the  county  of  Middlesex,  Esquire,  have 
represented  to  us,  that  they  have  entered  into  an  agreement  on  the  26th 
day  of  March  last,  for  putting  an  end  to  the  said  competition,  and  carry- 


II 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


46S 


North  America  to 


ing  on  the  said  trade  for  twenty-one  years,  commencing  with  the  outfit  of 
1821,  and  ending  with  the  returns  of  1841,  to  be  carried  on  in  the  name 
of  the  said  Governor  and  Company  exclusively :  And  whereas  the  said 
Governor  and  Company,  and  W.  McGillivray,  S.  McGillivray,  and  E. 
EUice,  have  humbly  besought  us  to  make  a  grant,  and  give  our  royal 
license  to  them  jointly,  of  and  for  the  exclusive  privilege  of  trading  with 
the  Indians  in  North  America,  under  the  restrictions  and  upon  the  terms 
and  conditions  specified  in  the  said  recited  act :  — 

"  Now,  know  ye,  that  we,  being  desirous  of  encouraging  the  said  trade, 
and  remedying  the  evils  which  have  arisen  from  the  competition  which 
has  heretofore  existed  therein,  do  grant  and  give  our  royal  license,  under 
the  hand  and  seal  of  one  of  our  principal  secretaries  of  state,  to  the  said 
Governor  and  Company,  and  W.  McGillivray,  S.  McGillivray,  and  E.  El- 
lice,  for  the  exclusive  privilege  of  trading  with  the  Indians,  in  all  such 
parts  of  North  America,  to  the  northward  and  westward  of  ttie  lands  and 
territories  belonging  to  the  United  Slates  of  America,  as  shall  not  form 
part  of  any  of  our  provinces  in  North  America,  or  of  any  lands  or  terri- 
tories belonging  to  the  said  United  States  of  America,  or  to  any  European 
government,  state,  or  power;  and  we  do  by  these  presents  give,  grant, 
and  secure,  to  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and  W .  McGillivray,  S. 
McGillivray,  and  E.  Ellice,  jointly,  the  sole  and  exclusive  privilege,  for 
the  full  period  of  twenty-one  years  from  the  date  of  this  our  grant,  of 
trading  with  the  Indians  in  all  such  parts  of  North  America  as  aforesaid, 
(except  as  thereinafter  excepted :)  And  we  do  hereby  declare  that  no  rent 
shall  be  required  or  demanded  for  or  in  respect  of  this  our  grant  and 
license,  or  any  privileges  given  thereby,  for  the  said  period  of  twenty-one 
years,  but  that  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and  W.  McGillivray,  S. 
McGillivray,  and  E.  Ellice,  shall,  during  the  period  of  this  our  grant  and 
license,  keep  accurate  registers  of  all  persons  in  their  employ,  in  any  parts 
of  North  America,  and  shall  once  in  each  year  return  to  our  secretary 
of  state  accurate  duplicates  of  all  such  registers,  and  shall  also  enter  into 
and  give  security  to  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  in  the  penal  sum  of  five 
thousand  pounds,  for  insuring,  ns  far  as  in  them  may  lie,  the  due  execu- 
tion of  all  the  criminal  processes,  and  of  any  civil  process,  in  any  suit, 
where  the  matter  in  dispute  shall  exceed  two  hundred  pounds,  by  the 
officers  and  persons  legally  empowered  to  execute  such  processes,  within 
<nll  the  territories  included  in  this  our  grant,  and  for  the  producing  and 
delivering  into  safe  custody,  for  purposes  of  trial,  any  persons  in  their 
employ  or  acting  under  their  authority,  within  the  said  territories,  who 
may  be  charged  with  any  criminal  offence. 

"  And  we  do  hereby  require  that  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and 
W.  McGillivray,  S.  McGillivray,  and  E.  Ellice,  shall,  as  soon  as  the  same 
can  be  conveniently  done,  make  and  submit,  for  our  consideration  and 
approval,  such  rules  and  regulations  for  the  management  and  carrying  on 
the  said  fur  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  the  conduct  of  the  persons 
employed  by  them  therein,  as  may  appear  to  us  to  be  effectual,  for  gradu- 
ally diminishing  or  ultimately  preventing  the  sale  and  distribution  of 
spirituous  liquors  to  the  Indians,  and  for  promoting  their  moral  and 
religious  improvement.  —  And  we  do  hereby  declare  that  nothing  in 
this  our  grant  contained  shall  be  deemed  or  construed  to  authorize  the 
said  Governor  and  Company,  or  W.  McGillivray,  S.  McGillivray,  and  E. 
Ellice,  or  any  person  in  their  employ,  to  claim  or  exercise  any  trade  with 


I   » 


M 


464 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


p. 


the  Indians  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  to  the  westward  of  the 
Stony  Mountains,  to  the  prejudice  or  exclusion  of  any  citizen  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  who  may  be  engaged  in  the  said  trade :  Pro- 
vided always,  that  no  British  subjects  other  than  and  except  the  said 
Governor  and  Company,  and  the  said  W.  McGiliivray,  S.  McGillivray,  and 
E.  Eliice,  and  the  persons  authorized  to  carry  on  exclusive  trade  by  them 
on  grant,  shall  trade  with  the  Indians  within  such  limits,  during  the 
period  of  this  our  grant." 


Under  this  license,  the  parlies  to  whom  it  was  granted  continued  their 
operations  until  1824,  when  the  claims  of  the  Nortli-West  Company  were 
extinguished  by  mutual  consent ;  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  then  became 
the  sole  possessor  of  the  privileges  conceded,  which  were  enjoyed  by  that 
body  until  the  expiration  of  the  grant.  Previous  to  that  period,  however, 
a  new  grant  was  made  to  the  company,  entitled, 


(5.) 


"  Chown  Grant  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  of  the  exclusive  Trade 
with  the  Indians  in  certain  Parts  of  North  America,  for  a  Term  of 
twenty-one  Years,  and  upon  Surrender  of  a  former  Grant," 

which,  after  recapitulating  the  terms  of  the  first  grant,  continues  thus : 

"  And  whereas  the  said  Governor  and  Company  have  acquired  to 
themselves  all  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  said  W.  McGillivray,  S. 
McGillivray,  and  E.  Eliice,  under  the  said  recited  grant,  and  the  said 
Governor  and  Company  have  humbly  besought  us  to  Jiccept  a  surrender 
of  the  said  grant,  and  in  consideration  thereof  to  make  a  grant  to  them, 
and  give  to  them  our  royal  license  and  authority  of  and  for  the  like 
exclusive  privilege  of  trading  with  the  Indians  in  North  America,  for  the 
like  period,  and  upon  similar  terms  and  conditions  to  those  specified  and 
referred  to  in  the  said  recited  grant :  Now,  know  ye,  that,  in  consideration 
of  the  surrender  made  to  us  of  the  said  recited  grant,  and  being  desirous 
of  encouraging  the  said  trade,  and  of  preventing  as  much  as  possible  a 
recurrence  of  the  evils  mentioned  or  referred  to  in  the  said  recited  grant, 
as  also  in  consideration  of  the  yearly  rent  hereinafter  reserved  to  us,  we 
do  hereby  grant  and  give  our  license,  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  one  of 
our  principal  secretJiries  of  state,  to  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and 
their  successors,  for  the  exclusive  privilege  of  trading  with  the  Indians  in 
all  such  parts  of  North  America,  to  the  northward  and  to  the  westward 
of  the  lands  and  territories  belonging  to  the  United  States  of  America,  as 
shall  not  form  part  of  any  of  our  provinces  in  North  America,  or  of  any 
lands  or  territories  belonging  to  the  said  United  States  of  America,  or  to 
any  European  government,  state,  or  power,  but  subject,  nevertheless,  as 
hereinafter  mentioned :  And  we  do,  by  these  presents,  give,  grant,  and 
secure,  to  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and  their  successors,  the  sole 
and  exclusive  privilege,  for  the  full  period  of  twenty-one  years  from  the 
date  of  this  our  grant,  of  trading  with  the  Indians  in  all  such  parts  of 
North  America  as  aforesaid,  (except  as  hereinafter  mentioned:)  And  we 


p. 

le  westward  of  the 
any  citizen  of  the 
le  said  trade :  Pro- 
id  except  the  said 
S.  McGillivray,  and 
isive  trade  by  them 
limits,  during  the 


led  continued  their 
^est  Company  were 
mpany  then  became 
ere  enjoyed  by  that 
at  period,  however, 


1.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


465 


he  exclusive  Trade 
ca,  for  a  Term  of 
Grant," 

t,  continues  thus : 

[  have  acquired  to 
V.  McGillivray,  S. 
rant,  and  the  said 
accept  a  surrender 
ie  a  grant  to  them, 
and  for  the  like 
America,  for  the 
those  specified  and 
at,  in  consi<leration 
and  l)eing  desirous 
much  as  possible  a 
said  recited  grant, 
reserved  to  us,  we 
and  seal  of  one  of 
and  Company,  and 
with  the  Indians  in 
id  to  the  westward 
ates  of  America,  as 
America,  or  of  any 
of  America,  or  to 
ct,  nevertheless,  as 
give,  grant,  and 
■successors,  the  sole 
one  years  from  the 
all  such  parts  of 
ntioned : )  And  we 


s 


do  hereby  declare  that  no  rent  shall  be  required  or  demanded  for  or  in 
respect  of  this  our  grant  and  license,  or  any  privileges  given  thereby  for 
the  first  four  years  of  the  said  term  of  twenty-one  years ;  and  we  do  hereby 
reserve  to  ourselves,  our  heirs  and  successofv,,  for  the  remainder  of  the 
said  term  of  twdnty-one  years,  the  yearly  rent  or  sum  of  five  shillings,  to  be 
paid  by  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  or  their  successors,  on  the  1st 
day  of  June,  in  every  year,  into  our  exchequer,  on  the  account  of  us,  our 
heirs  and  successors  :  And  we  do  hereby  declare  that  the  said  Governor 
and  Comp.iny,  and  their  successors,  shall,  during  the  period  of  this  our 
grant  and  license,  keep  accurate  registers  of  all  persons  in  their  employ 
in  any  parts  of  North  America,  and  shall,  once  in  each  year,  return  to 
our  secretary  of  state  accurate  duplicates  of  such  registers ;  and  shall  also 
enter  into  and  give  security  to  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  in  the  penal 
sum  of  five  thousand  pounds,  for  insuring,  as  fur  as  in  them  may  lie,  or  as 
they  can  by  their  authority  over  the  servants  and  persons  in  their  employ, 
the  due  execution  of  all  criminal  and  civil  processes  by  the  officers  and 
persons  legally  empowered  to  execute  such  processes  within  all  the  terri- 
tories included  in  this  our  grant,  and  for  the  producing  or  delivering  into 
custody,  for  the  purposes  of  trial,  all  persons  in  their  employ  or  acting 
under  their  authority,  within  the  said  territories,  who  shall  be  charged  with 
any  criminal  otTence :   And  we  do  also  hereby  require  that  the  said  Gov- 
ernor and  Company,  and  their  successors,  shall,  as  soon  as  the  same  can 
conveniently  be  done,  make  and  submit  for  our  consideration  and  approval, 
such  rules  and  regulations  for  the  management  and  carrying  on  the  said 
fur  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  the  conduct  of  the  persons  employed  by 
them  therein,  as  may  appear  to  us  to  be  effectual  for  diminishing  or  pre- 
venting the  sale  or  distribution  of  spirituous  liquors  to  the  Indians,  and 
for  promoting  their  moral  and  religious  improvement :  But  we  do  hereby 
declare  that  nothing  in  this  our  grant  contained  shall  be  deemed  or  con- 
strued to  authorize  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  or  their  successors, 
or  any  persons  in  their  employ,  to  claim  or  exercise  any  trade  with  the 
Indians   on  the   north-west   coast  of  America,  to   the  westward   of  the 
Stony  Mountains,  to  the  prejudice  or  exclusion  of  any  of  the  subjects  of 
any  foreign  states,  who,  under  or  by  force  of  any  convention  for  the  time 
being,  between  us  and  such  foreign  states  respectively,  may  be  entitled  to, 
and  shall  be  engaged  in,  the  said  trade :   Provided,  nevertheless,  and  we 
do  hereby  declare  our  pleasure  to  be,  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall 
extend  or  be  construed  to  prevent  the  establishment  by  us,  our  heirs,  or 
successors,  within  the  territories  aforesaid,  or  tiny  of  them,  of  any  colony 
or  colonies,  province  or  provinces,  or  for  annexing  any  part  of  the  afore- 
said territories  to  any  existing  colony  or  colonies  to  us  in  right  of  our 
imperial  crown   belonging,  or  for  constituting   any  such  form  of  civil 
government,  as  to  us   may  seem  meet,  within  any  such  colony  or  col- 
onies, or  provinces: 

"  And  we  do  hereby  reserve  to  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  full  power 
and  authority  to  revoke  these  presents,  or  any  part  thereof,  in  so  far  as 
the  same  may  embrace  or  extend  to  any  of  the  territories  aforesaid,  which 
may  hereafter  be  comprised  within  any  colony  or  colonies,  province  or 
provinces,  as  aforesaid : 

"  Tt  !)eing,  nevertheless,  hereby  declared  that  no  British  subjects,  other 
than  and  except  the  said  Governor  and  Company,  and  their  successors, 
and  the  persons  authorized  to  carry  on  exclusive  trade  by  them,  shall 

o9 


466 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[K. 


trade  with  the  Indians  during  the  period  of  this  our  grant,  within  the 
limits  aforesaid,  or  within  that  part  thereof  which  shall  not  be  com* 
prised  within  any  such  colony  or  province  as  aforesaid." 


K. 


Treaties  and    Conventions    relative    to    the   North-West 
Territories    of    North   America. 


ifl  1     ••* 


( i ' 


i  '  I 


A.' 


(1.) 

Convention  between   Great  Britain  and  Spain,   {commonly   called    the 
NooTKA  Treaty,)  signed  at  the  Escurial,  October  28th,  1790. 

Article  1.  The  buildings  and  tracts  of  land  situated  on  the  north- 
west coast  of  the  continent  of  North  America,  or  on  the  islands  adjacent 
to  that  continent,  of  which  the  subjects  of  his  Britannic  majesty  were  dis- 
possessed about  the  month  of  April,  1789,  by  a  Spanish  officer,  shall  be 
restored  to  the  said  British  subjects. 

Art.  2.  A  just  reparation  shall  be  made,  according  to  the  nature  of 
the  case,  for  all  acts  of  violence  or  hostility  which  may  have  been  com- 
mitted subsequent  to  the  month  of  April,  1789,  by  the  subjects  of  either 
of  the  contracting  parties  against  the  subjects  of  the  other;  and,  in  case 
any  of  the  said  respective  subjects  shall,  since  the  same  period,  have  been 
forcibly  dispossessed  of  their  lands,  buildings,  vessels,  merchandise,  and 
other  property,  whatever,  on  the  said  continent,  or  on  the  seas  and  islands 
adjacent,  they  shall  be  reestablished  in  the  possession  thereof,  or  a  just  com- 
pensation shall  be  made  to  them  for  the  losses  which  they  have  sustained. 

Art.  3.  In  order  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friendship,  and  to  pre- 
serve in  future  a  perfect  harmony  and  good  understanding,  between  the 
two  contracting  parties,  it  is  agreed  that  their  respective  subjects  shall  not 
be  disturbed  or  molested,  either  in  navigating,  or  carrying  on  their  fish- 
eries, in  the  Pacific  Ocean  or  in  the  South  Seas,  or  in  landing  on  the 
coasts  of  those  seas  in  places  not  already  occupied,  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  on  their  commerce  with  the  natives  of  the  country,  or  of  making 
settlements  there ;  the  whole  subject,  nevertheless,  to  the  restrictions 
specified  in  the  three  following  articles. 

Art.  4.  His  Britannic  majesty  engages  to  take  the  most  effectual 
measures  to  prevent  the  navigation  and  the  fishery  of  his  subjects  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean  or  in  the  South  Seas  from  being  made  a  pretext  for  illicit 
trade  with  the  Spanish  settlements ;  and,  with  this  view,  it  is  moreover 
expressly  stipulated  that  British  subjects  shall  not  navigate,  or  carry  on 
their  fishery,  in  the  said  seas,  within  the  space  of  ten  sea  leagues  from 
any  part  of  the  coasts  already  occupied  by  Spain. 

Art.  5.  As  well  in  the  places  which  are  to  be  restored  to  the  British 
subjects,  by  virtue  of  the  first  article,  as  in  all  other  parts  of  the  north- 


HE     NoRTH-WeST 


K.] 


PROOBS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


467 


western  coasts  of  North  America,  or  of  the  islands  adjacent,  situate  to  the 
north  of  the  parts  of  the  said  coast  already  occupied  by  Spain,  wherever 
the  subjects  of  either  of  the  two  powers  shall  have  made  settlements  since 
the  month  of  April,  1789,  or  shall  hereafter  make  any,  the  subjects  of  the 
othef  shall  hav6  free  access,  and  shall  carry  on  their  trade  without  any 
disturbance  or  molestation. 

Art.  6.  With  respect  to  the  eastern  and  western  coasts  of  South 
America,  and  to  the  islands  adjacent,  no  settlement  shall  be  formed  here- 
after by  the  respective  subjects  in  such  part  of  those  coasts  as  are  situated 
to  the  south  of  those  parts  of  the  same  coasts,  and  of  the  islands  adjacent, 
which  are  already  occupied  by  Spain :  provided,  that  the  said  respective 
subjects  shall  retain  the  liberty  of  landing  on  the  coasts  and  islands  so 
situated  for  the  purpose  of  their  fishery,  and  of  erecting  thereon  huts  and 
other  temporary  buildings  serving  only  for  those  purposes. 

Art.  7.  In  all  cases  of  complaint  or  infraction  of  the  articles  of  the 
present  convention,  the  officers  of  either  party,  without  permitting  them- 
selves to  commit  any  violence  or  act  of  force,  shall  be  bound  to  make 
an  exact  report  of  the  affair  and  of  its  circumstances  to  their  respective 
courts,  who  will  terminate  such  differences  in  an  amicable  manner. 


I 


(2.) 


Convention  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  Great  Britain^ 
signed  at  London,  October  20M,  1818. 

Article  2.  It  is  agreed  that  a  line  drawn  from  the  most  north-western 
point  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  along  the  49th  parallel  of  north  latitude, 
or,  if  the  said  point  shall  not  be  in  the  49th  parallel  of  north  latitude,  then 
that  a  line  drawn  from  the  said  point  due  north  or  south,  as  the  case  may 
be,  until  the  said  line  shall  intersect  the  said  parallel  of  north  latitude, 
and  from  the  point  of  such  intersection  due  west  along  and  with  the  said 
parallel,  shall  be  the  line  of  demarkation  between  the  territories  of  the 
United  States  and  those  of  his  Britannic  majesty ;  and  that  the  said  line 
shall  form  the  northern  boundary  of  the  said  territories  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  southern  boundary  of  the  territories  of  his  Britannic 
majesty,  from  the  Lake  of  the  Woods  to  the  Stony  Mountains. 

Art.  3.  It  is  agreed  that  any  country  that  may  be  claimed  by  either 
party  on  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  westward  of  the  Stony  Moun- 
tains, shall,  together  with  its  harbors,  bays,  and  creeks,  and  the  naviga- 
tion of  all  rivers  within  the  same,  be  free  and  open  for  the  term  of 
ten  years  from  the  date  of  the  signature  of  the  present  convention,  to  the 
vessels,  citizens,  and  subjects,  of  the  two  powers;  it  being  well  understood 
that  this  agreement  is  not  to  be  construed  to  the  prejudice  of  any  claim 
which  either  of  the  two  high  contracting  parties  may  have  to  any  part  of 
the  said  country,  nor  shall  it  be  taken  to  affect  the  claims  of  any  other 
power  or  state  to  any  part  of  the  said  country ;  the  only  object  of  the 
high  contracting  parties,  in  that  respect,  being  to  prevent  disputes  and 
differences  among  themselves. 


468 


PROOFS    AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[K. 


(3.) 

Treaty  of  Amity,  Settlement,  and  Limits,  between  the  United  States  and 
Spain,  {commonly  called  the  Florida  TREAxy,)  signed  at  Washing- 
ton, February  2'ie/,  1819. 

Article  3.  The  boundary  line  between  the  two  countries  west  of  the 
Mississippi  shall  begin  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  at  the  mouth  of  the  River 
Sabine,  in  the  sea,  continuing  north,  along  the  western  bank  of  that  river, 
to  the  3!2d  degree  of  latitude;  thence,  by  aline  due  north,  to  the  degree 
of  latitude  where  it  strikes  the  Uio  Roxo  of  Natchitoches,  or  Red  River; 
then,  following  the  course  of  the  Rio  Roxo  westward,  to  the  degree  of 
longitude  100  west  from  London  and  23  from  Washington ;  then  crossinir 
the  said  Red  River,  and  running  thence,  by  a  line  due  north,  to  llio 
River  Arkansas  ;  thence  following  the  course  of  the  southern  l>iuik  of  the 
Arkansas,  to  its  source  in  latitude  42  nortli ;  and  thence,  by  that  parallel 
of  latitude,  to  the  South  Sea;  the  whole  being  as  laid  down  in  Melish's 
map  of  the  United  States,  published  at  IMiiladelphia,  improved  to  the  1st 
of  January,  18IS.  But,  if  the  source  of  the  Arkansas  River  shall  be  found 
to  fall  north  or  south  of  latitude  42,  then  the  line  shall  run  from  the  said 
source  due  south  or  north,  as  the  case  may  be,  till  it  meets  the  said  par- 
allel of  latitude  42,  and  thence,  along  the  said  parallel,  to  the  South  Sea; 
all  the  islands  in  the  Sabine,  and  the  said  Red  and  Arkansas  Rivers, 
throughout  the  course  thus  described,  to  belong  to  the  United  States;  but 
the  use  of  the  waters  and  the  navigation  of  the  Sabine  to  the  sea,  and  of 
the  said  Rivers  Roxo  and  Arkansas,  throughout  the  extent  of  the  said 
boundary,  on  their  respective  banks,  shall  be  common  to  the  respective 
inhabitants  of  both  nations. 

The  two  high  contracting  parties  agree  to  cede  and  renounce  all  their 
rights,  claims,  and  pretensions,  to  the  territories  described  by  the  said 
line ;  that  is  to  say,  the  United  States  hereby  cede  to  his  Catholic  majesty, 
and  renounce  forever,  all  their  rights,  claims,  and  pretensions,  to  the  terri- 
tories lying  west  and  south  of  the  above-described  line;  and,  in  like  man- 
ner, his  Catholic  majesty  cedes  to  the  said  United  States  all  his  rights, 
claims,  and  pretensions,  to  any  territories  east  and  north  of  the  said  line ; 
and  for  himself,  his  heirs,  and  successors,  renounces  all  claim  to  the  said 
territories  forever. 

(4.) 

Convention  between  the  United  States  and  Russia,  signed  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, on  the  j^j  of  April,  1824. 

Article  1.  It  is  agreed  that,  in  any  part  of  the  great  ocean,  commonly 
called  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  South  Sea,  the  respective  citizens  or  subjects 
of  the  high  contracting  powers  shall  be  neither  disturbed  nor  restrained, 
either  in  navigation  or  in  fishing,  or  in  the  power  of  resorting  to  the 
coasts,  upon  points  which  may  not  already  have  been  occupied,  for  the 
purpose  of  trading  with  the  natives ;  saving  always  the  restrictions  and 
conditions  determined  by  the  following  articles. 


K.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


469 


Art.  2.  With  the  view  of  preventing  the  rights  of  navigation  and  of 
fishing,  exercised  upon  the  great  ocean  by  the  citizens  and  subjects  of 
the  high  contracting  powers,  from  becoming  the  pretext  for  an  illicit 
trade,  it  is  agreed  that  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  shall  not  resort  to 
any  point  where  there  is  a  Russian  establishment,  without  the  permission 
of  the  governor  or  commander ;  and  that,  reciprocally,  the  subjects  of 
Russia  shall  not  resort,  without  permission,  to  any  establishment  of  the 
United  States  upon  the  north-west  coast. 

Art.  3.  It  is,  moreover,  agreed  that  hereafter  there  shall  not  be 
formed  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  under  the  authority  of  the 
said  States,  any  establishment  upon  the  north-west  coast  of  America,  nor 
in  any  of  the  islands  adjacent,  to  the  north  of  .54  degrees  and  40  minutes 
of  north  latitude ;  and  that,  in  the  same  manner,  there  shall  be  none 
formed  by  Russian  subjects,  or  under  the  authority  of  Russia,  south  of 
the  same  parallel. 

Art.  4.  It  is,  nevertheless,  understood  that,  during  a  term  of  ten 
years,  counting  from  the  signature  of  the  present  convention,  the  ships  of 
both  powers,  or  which  belong  to  their  citizens  or  subjects,  respectively, 
may  reciprocally  frequent,  without  any  hindcrance  whatever,  the  interior 
seas,  gulfs,  harbors,  ■'nd  creeks,  upon  the  coast  mentioned  in  the  pre- 
ceding article,  for  the  purpose  of  fishing  and  trading  with  the  natives 
of  the  country. 

Art.  5.  AH  spirituous  liquors,  fire-arms,  other  arms,  powder,  and 
munitions  of  war  of  every  kind,  are  always  excepted  from  this  same  com- 
merce permitted  by  the  preceding  article;  and  the  two  powers  engage, 
reciprocally,  neither  to  sell,  nor  suffer  them  to  be  sold,  to  the  natives,  by 
their  respective  citizens  and  subjects,  nor  by  any  person  who  may  be 
under  their  authority.  It  is  likewise  stipulated,  that  this  restriction  shall 
never  afford  a  pretext,  nor  be  advanced,  in  any  case,  to  authorize  either 
search  or  detention  of  the  vessels,  seizure  of  the  merchandise,  or,  in  fine, 
any  measures  of  constraint  whatever,  towards  the  merchants  or  the  crews 
who  may  carry  on  this  commerce;  the  high  contracting  powers  recipro- 
cally reserving  to  themselves  to  determine  upon  the  penalties  to  be 
incurred,  and  to  ihflict  the  punishments  in  case  of  the  contravention  of 
this  article  by  their  respective  citizens  or  subjects. 


(5.) 


?ned  at  St.  Peters- 


Convention  between  Great  Britain  and  Russia,  signed  at  St.  Peters- 

burg,  February  ^|,  1825. 

Article  1.  It  is  agreed  that  the  respective  subjects  of  the  high  con- 
tracting parties  shall  not  be  troubled  or  molested  in  any  part  of  the  ocean 
commonly  called  the  Pacific  Ocean,  either  in  navigating  the  same,  in 
fishing  therein,  or  in  landing  at  such  parts  of  the  coast  as  shall  not  have 
been  already  occupied,  in  order  to  trade  with  the  natives,  ui>der  the 
restrictions  and  conditions  specified  in  the  following  articles. 

Art.  2.  In  order  to  prevent  the  right  of  navigating  and  fishing,  exer- 
cised upon  the  ocean  by  the  subjects  of  the  high  contracting  parties,  from 
becoming  the  pretext  for  an  illicit  commerce,  it  is  agreed  that  the  subjects 


470 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


[K. 


m 


of  bin  Britannic  majesty  shnll  not  land  at  any  place  where  there  may  be  a 
llusflian  establishment,  without  the  permission  of  the  governor  or  com> 
mnndant;  and,  on  the  other  hnnd,  that  Russian  subjects  shall  not  land, 
without  permission,  at  any  British  establishment  on  the  north-west  coast. 

Art.  :).  The  line  of  demarkation  between  the  possessions  of  the  high 
contracting  parties,  upon  the  cuust  of  the  continent,  and  the  islands  of 
America  to  the  north-west,  shall  be  drawn  in  the  manner  following :  Com- 
mencing  from  the  southernmost  point  of  the  island  called  Prince  ofWales's 
Island,  which  point  lies  in  the  parallel  of  54  degrees  40  minutes  north 
latitude,  and  between  the  131st  and  the  133d  degree  of  west  longitude, 
(meridian  of  Greenwich,)  the  said  line  shall  ascend  to  the  north  along 
the  channel  cnlled  Portland  Channel,  as  far  as  the  point  of  the  continent 
where  it  strikes  the  r>Gth  degree  of  north  latitude.  From  this  last-men- 
tioned point,  the  line  of  demarkation  shall  follow  the  summit  of  the  moun- 
tains situated  parallel  to  the  coast,  as  far  as  the  point  of  intersection  of  the 
141st  degree  of  west  longitude,  (of  the  same  meridian.)  And,  finally, 
from  the  said  point  of  intersection,  the  said  meridian  line  of  the  141st 
degree,  in  its  prolongation  as  far  as  the  Frozen  Ocean,  shall  form  the 
limit  between  the  Russian  and  British  possessions  on  the  continent  of 
America  to  the  north-west. 

Art.  4.  With  reference  to  the  line  of  demarkation  laid  down  in  the 
preceding  article,  it  is  understood  — 

1st.  That  the  island  called  Prince  of  Wales's  Island  shall  belong 
wholly  to  Russia. 

2d.  That  whenever  the  summit  of  the  mountains  which  extend  in  a 
direction  parallel  to  the  coast,  from  the  56th  degree  of  north  latitude  to 
the  point  of  intersection  of  the  141st  degree  of  west  longitude,  shall  prove 
to  be  at  the  distance  of  more  than  ten  marine  leagues  from  the  ocean,  the 
limit  between  the  British  possessions  and  the  line  of  coast  which  is  to 
belong  to  Russia,  as  above  mentioned,  shall  be  formed  by  a  line  parallel  to 
the  windings  of  the  coast,  and  which  shall  never  exceed  the  distance  of 
ten  marine  leagues  therefrom. 

Art.  5.  It  is,  moreover,  agreed  that  no  establishment  shall  be  formed 
by  either  of  the  two  parties  within  the  limits  assigned  by  the  two  preced- 
ing articles  to  the  possessions  of  the  other ;  consequently,  British  subjects 
shall  not  form  any  establishment  either  upon  the  coast,  or  upon  the  border 
of  the  continent  comprised  within  the  limits  of  the  Russian  possessions,  as 
designated  in  the  two  preceding  articles ;  and,  in  like  manner,  no  estab- 
lishment shall  be  formed  by  Russian  subjects  beyond  the  said  limits. 

Art.  6.  It  is  understood  that  the  subjects  of  his  Britannic  majesty, 
from  whatever  quarter  they  may  arrive,  whether  from  the  ocean  or  from 
the  interior  of  the  continent,  shall  forever  enjoy  the  right  of  navigating 
freely,  and  without  any  hinderance  whatever,  all  the  rivers  and  streams 
which,  in  their  course  towards  the  Pacific  Ocean,  may  cross  the  line  of 
demarkation  upon  the  line  of  coast  described  in  article  3  of  the  present 
convention. 

Art.  7.  It  is  also  understood  that,  for  the  space  of  ten  years  from  the 
signature  of  the  present  convention,  the  vessels  of  the  two  powers,  or 
those  belonging  to  their  respective  subjects,  shall  mutually  be  at  liberty 
to  frequent,  without  any  hinderance  whatever,  all  the  inland  seas,  the 
gulfs,  havens,  and  creeks,  on  the  coast,  mentioned  in  article  3,  for  the 
purposes  of  fishing  and  of  trading  with  the  natives. 


K.] 


PROOFS    AND    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


471 


n  laid  down  in  the 
sland  shall  belong 


Art.  8.  The  port  of  Sitka,  or  Novo  Archangelsk,  shall  be  open  to  the 
commerce  and  vessels  of  British  subjects  for  the  space  of  ten  years  from 
the  date  of  the  exchange  of  the  ratifications  of  the  present  convention.  In 
the  event  of  an  extension  of  this  term  of  ten  years  being  granted  to  any 
other  power,  the  like  extension  shall  be  granted  also  to  Great  Britain. 

Art.  0.  The  above*mentioned  liberty  of  commerce  shall  not  apply  to 
the  trade  in  spirituous  liquors,  in  fire-arms,  or  other  arms,  gunpowder,  or 
other  warlike  stores ;  the  high  contracting  parties  reciprocally  engaging 
not  to  permit  the  above-mentioned  articles  to  be  sold  or  delivered,  m  any 
manner  whatever,  to  the  natives  of  the  country. 

Art.  10.  Every  British  or  Russian  vessel  navigating  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  which  may  be  compelled  by  storms  or  by  accident  to  take  shelter 
in  the  ports  of  the  respective  parties,  shall  be  at  liberty  to  refit  therein, 
to  provide  itself  with  all  necessary  stores,  and  to  put  to  sea  again,  without 
paying  any  other  than  port  and  lighthouse  dues,  which  shall  be  the  same 
as  those  paid  by  national  vessels.  In  case,  however,  the  master  of  such 
vessel  should  be  under  the  necessity  of  disposing  of  a  part  of  his  merchan- 
dise in  order  to  defray  his  expenses,  he  shall  conform  himself  to  the  regu- 
lations and  tariffs  of  the  place  where  he  may  have  landed. 

Art.  11.  In  every  case  of  complaint  on  account  of  an  infraction  of 
the  articles  of  the  present  convention,  the  civil  and  military  authorities 
of  the  high  contracting  parties,  without  previously  acting,  or  taking  any 
forcible  measure,  shall  make  an  exact  and  circumstantial  report  of  the 
matter  to  their  respective  courts,  who  engage  to  settle  the  same  in  a 
friendly  manner,  and  according  to  the  principles  of  justice. 


(6.) 


Convention  betteeen  the   United  Slates  and  Great  Britain,  signed  at 

London,  August  6th,  1827. 

Article  1.  All  the  provisions  of  the  third  article  of  the  convention 
concluded  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  his  majesty  the  king 
of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  on  the  20th  of 
October,  1818,  shall  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  further  indefinitely  extended 
and  continued  in  force,  in  the  same  manner  as  if  all  the  provisions  of  the 
said  article  were  herein  specifically  recited. 

Art.  2.  It  shall  be  competent,  however,  to  either  of  the  contracting 
parties,  in  case  either  should  think  fit,  at  any  time  after  the  20th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1828,  on  giving  due  notice  of  twelve  months  to  the  other  contracting 
party,  to  annul  and  abrogate  this  convention ;  and  it  shall,  in  such  case, 
be  accordingly  entirely  annulled  and  abrogated,  after  the  expiration  of  the 
said  term  of  notice. 

Art.  3.  Nothing  contained  in  this  convention,  or  in  the  third  article 
of  the  convention  of  the  20th  October,  1818,  hereby  continued  in  force, 
shall  be  construed  to  impair,  or  in  any  manner  affect,  the  claims  which 
either  of  the  contracting  parties  may  have  to  any  part  of  the  country  west- 
ward of  the  Stony  or  Rocky  Mountains. 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


A. 

Adams,  John  Q.,  United  States  minister 
at  St.  Petersburg,  correspondence  with 
the  Russian  government  re8,)ecting 
American  traders  on  the  nortli-west 
coast,  275.  Secretary  of  state  of  tiie 
United  States;  negotiations  with  Spain 
on  tlie  southern  and  western  hmits  of 
the  United  States,  316.  Correspond- 
ence with  the  Russian  minister  at 
Washington  on  the  ukase  of  1821, 
332.  Instructions  to  Mr.  Rush,  United 
States  minister  at  London,  on  claims 
of  the  United  SUtes,  in  1H23,  340. 
President  of  the  United  States ;  message 
recommending  the  adoption  of  measures 
respecting  Oregon,  344. 

Aguilar,  Martin  de,  voyage  and  supposed 
discovery  of  a  great  river  on  the  north- 
west coast,  92. 

Al'arcon,  Hernando,  voyage  up  the  Cali- 
fornian  Gulf  and  the  Colorado  River,  60. 

Aleutian  Islands  described,  41.  Discov- 
ered, 135. 

Aliaska  described,  41.    Discovered,  132. 

America.  This  name  first  given  to  Brazil 
in  1508.  Never  used  by  Spanish  govern- 
ment and  historians  until  recently,  48. 

Anian,  Strait  of,  said  to  have  been  dis- 
covered by  Cortereal,  probably  the  same 
now  called  Hudson's  Strait,  47.  Voy- 
ages in  search  of  it,  78.  See  Urdaiieta, 
Ladrillero,  Maldonado,  Fonte,  Vizcaino. 

Archer,  William  S.,  his  speech  in  ti»e 
Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the  bill 
for  the  occupation  of  Oregon,  377,  384, 
385. 

Arteaga,  Ignacio,  voyage,  125. 

Ashley,  William  II.,  conducts  trading 
expeditions  from  St.  Louis  to  the 
Rocky  Mountain  regions,  357. 

Astoria  established,  2!)().  Described,  2!)9 
—313.  Ceded  to  North- West  Compa- 
ny, 303.  Taken  bv  Britisli,  304.  Re- 
stored to  the  United  States,  30!>.  Burnt, 
313.    See  Pacific  Fur  Company. 

Atlantis,  Island,  placed  by  Bacon  on  the 
north-west  coast,  97. 


B. 

Baranof,  Alexander,  governor  of  Russian 
America,  his  character,  271.  Founds 
Sitka,  270.  His  mode  of  conducting 
negotiations,  302.  Seizes  part  of  Cali- 
fornia, 327.  Attempts  to  seize  one  of 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  328. 

Becerra,  Diego,  voyage  from  Mexico  by 
order  of  Cortes,  54. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  his  speech  in  the 
Sen.ale  of  the  United  States  on  the  bill 
for  the  occupation  of  Oregon,  380. 

Benyowaky,  August»:s,  a  Polish  exile  in 
Kamtchatka,  performs  the  first  voyage 
from  that  country  to  Canton,  138. 

Bering,  Alexander,  first  voyage  from 
Kamtchatka  to  the  Arctic  Sea,  129. 
Second  voyage,  12i).  Third  and  last 
voyage,  130.  Reaches  the  American 
continent,  131.  Shipwreck  and  death, 
133. 

Bering's  Strait  discovered,  129.  Described, 

Berkeley,  Captain,  rediscovers  the  Strait 
of  Fuca ;  murder  of  part  of  his  crew  off 
Destruction  Island,  171. 

Berrien,  John  M.,  his  speech  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  on  the  bill  for  the 
occupation  of  Oregon,  385. 

Billings,  Joseph,  engaged  by  the  empress 
of  Russia  to  explore  the  North  Pacific, 
162.  His  voyage  produces  no  valuable 
results,  221 . 

Bodega  y  Quadra,  Juan  Francisco  de,  first 
voyage,  under  Heceta,  from  Mexico, 
along  the  north-west  coast,  1 17.  Impor- 
tance of  his  discoveries,  123.  Second 
voyage,  under  Arteaga,  125.  (See  Mau- 
relle.)  Commissioner  to  treat  with  Van- 
couver at  Nootka,  231.  (See  Nootka 
Convention.)  Letter  to  Captains  Gray 
and  Ingraiiam,  242,  443.     Death,  2.55. 

Brobdignag,  placed  by  Swift  on  the  north- 
west coast,  near  Columbia  River,  97. 

Broughton,  William,  sent  by  Vancouver 
to  survey  the  lower  part  of  tiie  Co- 
lumbia River,  247.  Unfairness  to  the 
Americans,  243.    Sent  to  England,  249. 


476 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


Commands  an  exploring  expedition  in 
the  North  Pacific,  25G.  Finds  Nootka 
Sound  deserted,  ^57. 
Bulfinch's  Harbor  discovered  by  Captain 
Gray,  of  Boston,  2;{5.  Examined  l)y 
Vancouver's  lieutenant,  Whidbey,  2ib. 
Described,  24. 


Caamano,  Jacmto,  voyage  in  the  North- 
West  Archipelago,  241. 

Cabeza-Vaca,  Alvaro  Nunez,  journey  from 
Florida  to  the  Californian  Gulf,  57. 

Cabot,  John,  and  Sebastian,  voyages,  47. 

Cabrillo,  Juan-  Rodriguez,  exploring  voy- 
age from  Mexico,  and  death,  (54. 

Callioun,  .lohn  C,  his  speech  in  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  United  States  on  the  bill  for 
the  occupation  of  Oregon,  382. 

California,  origin  of  the  name  unknown, 
5.'). 

California,  Peninsula  of,  described,  10. 
Discovered ;  fruitless  attempts  of  the 
Spaniards  to  settle,  1)0,  Mr^.  Jesuits 
engage  to  civilize  the  inhabitants,  it!). 
Their  partial  success,  100.  Their  His- 
tory of  California,  101.  Expulsion  of 
the  Jesuits,  lOG. 

California,  Continental,  or  New,  described, 
12.  Discovered,  r>e!.  Settled  by  tiie 
Spaniards,  10!).  Claimed  by  Mexico, 
'Ml.  Attempted  insurrection  in,  3G7. 
Recent  events  in,  llGrt. 

California,  Gulf  of,  described,  9.  Dis- 
covered, .")4.  Examined  by  Ulloa,  58; 
and  by  Alarcon,  60. 

Carver,  Jon<athan,  travels  in  the  central 
regions  of  North  America,  141.  Pre- 
tended discov<'ry  of  a  river  called  Ore- 
gon, flowing  into  the  Pacific,  142.  His 
accounts  chiefly  derived  from  old  French 
travellers,  144. 

Cavendish,  Thomas,  voyage  around  the 
world  ;  takes  and  burns  a  Spanish  ship 
near  tiie  coast  of  California,  77. 

Cernienon,  Sebastian,  wrecked  on  the 
coast  of  California,  (W. 

Choate,  Rufus,  hisspi-ech  in  tlie  Senate  of 
the  United  States  on  the  bill  for  the  oc- 
cupation of  Oregiin,  IlH.'i. 

Cibola,  a  country  or  city  north-west  of 
Mexico,  discovered  by  Friar  Marcos  de 
Niza, .")!).  Supposed  po-ition,  ()2.  Ex- 
pedition of  Vazquez  de  Coronado  to 
eontpier  it,  (Jl. 

Clarke.     Srr,  Lewis  and  Clarke. 

Clarke  River  discovered,  2(!'().  Described, 
21. 

Colnett,  James,  enofaged  by  Meares  to 
command  the  Arironaut,  180.  Made 
prisoner  by  the  Spaniards  at  Nootka, 
and  sent  to  Mexico,  IIt5.  Lil)erated  by 
order  of  tlie  viceroy  of  Mexico,  200. 

Columbia.  American  trading  ship,  fitted 
out  at  Boston,  179.     Sails  under  Ken- 


drick  to  the  North  Pacific,  180.  Puts 
into  Juan  Fernandez  in  distress,  181. 
Reaches  Nootka  Sound,  181.  Sails  for 
Canton  and  the  United  States,  under 
Captain  Gray,  200.  Second  voyage 
under  Gray,  229.  Winters  at  Clyo- 
quot,  230.  Discovery  of  tiie  Columbia 
River,  235.     Sec  Gray  and  Vancouver. 

Columbia  River,  (called,  also,  Oregon,) 
described,  21.  Mouth  seen  by  the  Span- 
ish commander  Heceta,  120.  Meares 
seeks  for  it  in  vain,  and  denies  its  ex- 
istence, 177.  Mouth  seen  by  the  Amer- 
ican Captain  Gray,  181.  Gray  first  en- 
ters the  river,  23ti.  Lower  part  explored 
by  the  British  Lieutenant  Broughton, 
247,  who  unfairly  pretends  to  have  dis- 
covered it,  248.  Head-waters  discov- 
ered by  Lewis  and  Clarke,  who  trace 
the  river  thence  to  the  sea,  285.  British 
plenipotentiaries  claim  the  discovery  for 
Meares,  178. 

Convention  of  1790,  between  Great  Brit- 
ain and  Spain,  sec  Nootka  Convention. 
Of  1818,  between  Great  Britain  and  tiie 
United  States,  concluded,  315, 4G7.  Re- 
newed in  1827  for  an  indefinite  period, 
:?54.  Reflections  on,  389.  Of  ls24, 
between  the  United  States  and  Russia, 
concluded,  341,  4G8.  Virtually  abro- 
gated by  Russia,  342. 

Cook,  James,  undertakes  a  voyage  of 
discovery  in  the  North  Pacific  ;  his  in- 
structions, 147.  Discovers  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  150.  Reaches  Nootka 
Sound,  151.  Passes  through  Bering's 
Straits,  156.  Killed  at  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  157.  Importance  of  his  dis- 
coveries, 158.  Knew  no  particulars 
of  the  recent  Spanish  voyages,  149; 
thouirh  he  knew  that  such  voyages 
had  been  made,  152. 

Coronado,  Francisco  Vazquez,  expedition 
from  Mexico,  to  conquer  the  rich  coun- 
tries supposed  to  lie  farther  north-west, 
Gl. 

Cortereal,  Caspar,  discovers  Labrador; 
Strait  of  Anian  said  to  have  been 
found  by  him,  leading  from  the  At- 
lantic north-west  to  the  Pacific,  47. 

Cortes,  Hernando,  conquers  Mexico,  and 
proposes  to  explore  the  coasts  of  that 
country,  50.  Expeditions  made  by  his 
order  on  the  Pacific,  53.  Leads  an 
expedition  into  California,  5.5.  Super- 
seded in  the  government  of  Mexico,  to 
which  country  he  returns,  56.  Claims 
the  right  to  make  conquests  in  America; 
returns  to  Spain,  and  dies,  GO. 


Dixon,  George,  voyage  in  the  North  Pa- 
cific, 169.     Dispute  with  Meares,  218. 

Douglas,  William,  master  of  the  Iphige- 
nia;  voyage  under  Meares  to  the  North 


I  Pacific,  180.  Puto 
lez  in  distress,  181. 
)und,  181.  Sails  for 
Fnited  States,  under 
0.  Second  voyage 
Winters  at  Olyo- 
pry  of  tiie  Columbia  ' 
Iray  and  Vancouver, 
died,  also,  Oregon,) 
itli  seen  by  the  Span- 
eceta,  120.  Meares 
ri,  and  denies  its  ex- 
th  seen  by  the  Amer- 
,181.  Gray  first  en- 
Lower  part  explored 
untenant  Broughton, 
pretends  to  have  dis- 
Head-waters  discov- 
1  Clarke,  who  trace 
the  sea,  285.  British 
aim  the  discovery  for 

between  Great  Brit- 
Nootka  Convention, 
jreat  Britain  and  the 
3luded,3li>,4()7.  Be- 
an indefinite  period, 
on,  'MX  Of  l>s24, 
d  States  and  Russia, 
IG8.  Virtually  abro- 
42. 

Ttakes  a  voyage  of 

lorth  Pacific  ;  his  in- 

Discovers  the  Sand- 

).      Reaches   Nootka 

ics  through  Bering's 

ed  at  the  Sandwich 

l)ortance   of  his  dis- 

new   no    particulars 

anish   voyages,  14!>; 

that    such   voyages 

i'i. 

Vazquez,  expedition 
inquer  the  rich  coun- 
le  farther  north-west, 

discovers  Labrador ; 
said  to  have  been 
iding  from  the  At- 
to  the  Pacific,  47. 
nnquers  Mexico,  and 
•e  the  coasts  of  that 
editions  made  by  his 
;ific,  .'')3.  Leads  an 
ilifornia,  .5.').  Super- 
nment  of  Mexico,  to 
returns,  .')6.  Claims 
onquests  in  America; 
nd  dies,  GO. 


ige  in  the  North  Pa- 
(^with  Meares,  218. 
laster  of  the  Iphige- 
Meares  to  the  North 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


477 


Pacific,  172.  Taken  prisoner  by  the 
Spaniards  at  Nootka,  191.  Released, 
102. 

Drake,  Francis,  voyage  around  the  world, 
72.  Arrives  in  the  North  Pacific,  and 
lands  on  the  American  coast,  73.  Re- 
ceives from  the  natives  the  crown  of 
the  country,  which  he  calls  New  Albi- 
on, and  returnw  to  England,  74.  Re- 
view of  accounts  of  his  voyage  in  the 
North  Pacific,  7.').  Part  of  the  coast 
probably  seen  by  him,  76. 

Dufiin,  Robert,  mate  of  Meares's  vessel, 
enters  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  17G.  Testi- 
mony respecting  events  at  Nootka,  244. 


Falkland  Islands,  dispute  between  Great 
Britain  and  Spain  respecting  them, 
in.  Lord  Palmerston's  letter  to  the 
minister  of  Buenos  Ayres  on  the  sub- 
ject of  their  occupation  by  Great  Brit- 
ain, 111—313. 

Fidiilgo,  Salvador,  voyage  of,  220. 

FK'uricu,  Clairet  de,  liis  introduction  to 
the  Journal  of  Marchands  voyage,  223. 
Admits  the  discovery  of  tlie  Washing- 
ton or  North  Marquesas  Islands  by 
Ingraham,  22rf. 

Floridii,  tiie  name  applied  originally  by 
tin;  Spaniards  to  the  whole  eastern  side 
of  America,  north  of  the  Mexican 
Gulf,  55.  Expeditions  through  it  un- 
der Narvaez,  57,  and  Soto,  (i5.  Ceded 
to  the  United  States,  3J6. 

FonU',  Admiriil,  supposed  voyage,  in  the 
North  Pacific,  by  a  person  so  named, 
84. 

Forsyth,  John,  secretary  of  state  of  the 
United  States,  instructions  respecting 
the  meaning  of  the  convention  with 
Russia,  3G2.  Endeavors  to  procure  in- 
formation respecting  the  north-west 
coast,  37(i. 

Fox,  ('iiarles  J.,  his  speech  in  Parliament 
on  the  Nootka  convention,  211. 

Fuca,  Juan  de,  voyage  in  the  North 
Pacific,  and  supji  'sed  discovery  of  a 
new  passage  leading  to  the  Atlantic, 
87,  4(17. 

Fuca,  Strait  of,  described,  24.  Discovered 
by  J  mm  de  Fuca,  87.  Search  for  it  by 
Heceta,  HO.  By  Cook,  l.")0.  Found  by 
Berkeley,  171.  Rediscovery  claimed  by 
Meares.  175.  Entered  by  Gray,  lO!*, 
234.  Kendrick  passes  through  it,  200, 
217.  Surveyed  by  Vancouver,  and  Ga- 
liano,  and  Valdes,  238. 

Furs  and  fur  trade,  general  account,  411. 
See  Russian  American  Company,  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  and  North- West 
Company. 


G. 


Gallatin,  Albert,  minister  plenipotentiary 
of  the  United  States  at  London  ;  ne- 
gotiations at  London,  314,  344.  Coun- 
ter statement  respecting  the  claims  of 
the  United  States,  presented  by  him  to 
British  commissioners,  347. 

Gali,  Francisco,  his  voyage,  68. 

Galiano  and  Valdes,  their  voyage  through 
the  Strait  of  Fuca,  240.  Journal  pub- 
lished by  the  Spanish  government; 
Introduction  to  that  Journal  reviewed, 
241. 

Gray,  Robert,  first  voyage  to  the  North 
Pacific,  in  command  of  the  trading  sloop 
Washington,  from  Boston,  180.  Sees 
an  o]>ening  supposed  to  be  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia  River,  181.  First  exam- 
ines the  east  coast  of  Washington's  or 
Queen  Charlotte's  Island,  100.  Knlers 
tht>  Strait  of  Fuca,  200.  Returns  to 
Boston  in  the  ship  Columbia,  200. 
Second  voyage  to  tlie  Nortii  Pacific,  in 
the  Columbia,  226,  220.  Meets  Van- 
couver near  tlie  entrance  of  the  Strait  of 
Fuca,  and  makes  known  his  discovery 
of  the  mouth  of  a  great  river,  233.  Dis- 
covers Bulfincli's  Harbor,  235.  Enters 
the  great  river,  which  he  names  the 
Columbia,  236.  Makes  known  his  dis- 
covery to  the  Spanish  commandant  at 
Nootka,  237.  Letter  of  Gray  and  In- 
graham  to  the  Spanish  commandant, 
respecting  the  occurrences  at  Nootka 
in  1780,  242, 413.  Returns  to  the  Unit- 
ed States,  237. 


H. 


Harmon,  D.  W.,  important  evidence 
afforded  by  him  respecting  the  first 
trading  posts  established  by  the  British 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  201 . 

Hawaii.     Six  Owyhee. 

Hearne,  Samuel,  discoveries  in  the  territo- 
ry west  of  Hudson's  Bay,  145.  Reaehes 
the  Arctic  Sen,  at  the  mouth  of  Cop- 
permine River,  146. 

Heceta,  Bruno,  voyage  along  the  north- 
west coast  of  America,  in  1775,  117. 
Discovers  a  river,  called  by  him  Rio  de 
Sun  liuqne,  now  called  the  Columbia, 
120. 

Henderson,  John,  speech  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  on  tlie  bill  for  the 
occupation  of  Oregon,  380. 

Howi'l,  account  of  the  negotiation  at 
Nootka  between  Vancouver  and  Qua- 
dra, 245. 

Hudson,  Henry,  discovers  Hudson's  Bay, 
07. 

Hudson's  Bny  Company  established  by 
charter,    \)7.      Efforts    to    discover    a 


478 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


;,;  S 


north-west  passage,  141.  Disputes  with 
the  North-West  Company,  aUO,  324. 
Union  of  these  two  companies,  o2ii. 
Receives  a  grant  of  cxchisive  trade  in 
the  Indian  territories,  '.^'M.  General 
view  of  its  system  and  establishments, 
392.     Papers  relating  to  it,  4.')r>. 

Hudson's  Strait,  probably  tlic  same  called 
by  the  Portuguese  the  Strait  oJ\'i>uau,47. 

Hunt,  Wilson  P.,  chief  agent  of  the  Pa- 
cific Fur  Company,  2i>5.  His  negotia- 
tions with  Governor  liaranof  at  'Sitka, 
302. 

Huntingdon,  Jabez  W.,  speech  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the  bill 
for  the  occupation  of  Oregon,  382. 


I. 


Ingraham,  Joseph,  mate  of  the  ship  Co- 
lumbia, in  her  first  voyage  from  Boston 
to  the  north-west  coast,  180.  Returns 
to  the  Pacific  as  master  of  the  brig 
Hope,  and  discovers  the  Washing- 
ton or  North  Marquesas  Islands,  22G. 
At  the  Sandwich  Islands,  227.  At 
Queen  Cliarlottes  Island,  227.  At  Ma- 
cao, where  he  meets  Marchund,  and 
communicates  his  discovery  of  the 
Washington  Islands,  the  priority  of 
which  is  admitted  by  Marchaud  and 
Fleurieu,  22"*.  At  Nnotka,  where  he 
writes  a  letter,  signed  by  himself  and 
Gray,  respecting  tiie  proceedings  at 
that  place  in  178!»,  242.  Copy  ot  that 
letter,  414.  Unfair  synopsis  of  it  by 
Vancouver,  244.  His  journal,  231.  His 
death,  237. 


Jesuits  undertake  the  reduction  of  Cali- 
fornia, !)!).  Their  system  and  establish- 
ments, 100.  Their  History  of  Califor- 
nia, 101.  Expellfil  from  the  Spanish 
dominions,  lOti.  Results  of  their  labors 
in  California,  107. 

Jesup,  Thomas  S.,  quartermaster-general 
of  the  United  States ;  report  on  the 
best  means  of  occupying  Oregon,  336. 
Effect  of  that  report  on  the  negotia- 
tions in  Europe,  337. 

Jewitt,  J.  R.,  his  captivity  among  the  In- 
dians at  Nootka,  26S. 


K. 


Kamtchatka  described,  42.  Conquered 
by  the  Cossacks,  128.  Its  position  on 
the  Pacific  ascertained,  12i). 

Kendrick,  John,  commands  the  first  trad- 
ing expedition  from  the  United  States 
to  the  North  Pacific,  179.     Arrives  at 


Nootka,  181.  Sails  in  the  sloop  Wash- 
ington through  the  Strait  of  Fuca, 
2(10,  217.  The  first  who  engaged  in 
the  transportation  of  sandal-wood  from 
the  Sandwich  Islands  to  Canton,  228. 
His  purchases  of  lands  from  the  Indians 
at  Nootka  ;  accidentally  killed,  229. 

Kodiak  Island,  40.  Settlement  on  it  by 
the  Russians,  IGl. 

Krenitzin  and  Levaschef,  voyage  of,  137. 

Krusenstern,  A.  J.  von,  commands  a 
Russian  exploring  expedition  to  tiie 
Pacific,  272.  His  great  merit  as  a  navi- 
gator ;  his  journal  of  the  expedition ; 
etlicient  in  the  reform  of  abuses  in 
Russian  America,  274 


L. 


Ladrillero,  Juan,  an  old  Spanish  pilot, 
who  pretended  to  have  made  a  northern 
voyage  from  tiie  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
79. 

Ledyard,  John,  corporal  of  marines  in 
Cook's  expedition,  149.  Esca[)es  from 
a  liritish  sliip,otf  the  coast  of  Connecti- 
cut, lt)2.  Endeavors  to  obtain  means 
to  engage  in  the  fur  trade  ;  attempts 
to  go  by  land  from  Paris  to  Kamt- 
chalka  ;  arrested  at  Irkutsk,  and 
forced  to  return  ;  attempts  to  discover 
the  source  of  the  ^ille,  and  dies  at 
Cairo,  l()3. 

Lewis,  Meriwether,  and  John  Clarke, 
connnissioned  by  President  JetVerson  to 
explore  tlie  Missouri  and  Columbia 
countries,  284.  Voyage  up  t!ie  Mis- 
souri to  its  sources ;  passage  through 
tlie  Rocky  Mountains,  2H").  Descend 
the  Columbia  to  the  Pacific;  winter 
iit  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  281). 
Return  to  the  United  States,  287.  Gen- 
eral results  of  tiieir  expedition  ;  their 
Journal  written  by  Lewis  ;  melancholy 
death  of  Lewis,  288. 

Lewis,  or  Snake,  or  Sahaptin  River, 
principal  southern  branch  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, discovered  by  Lewisand  Clarke, 
287.     Described,  ;i2. 

Linn,  Lewis  F.,  his  bill  and  speeches  in 
the  Senate  of  the  United  States  on  the 
occupation  of  Oregon,  !579,  387. 

Louisiana,  settled  by  the  French  ;  grant- 
ed by  Louis  XIV.  to  Cro/at,  227  ;  and 
atlerwards  .to  Law,  228.  Ceded  by 
France  to  Spain ;  retroceded  by  Spain 
to  F'rance,  and  sold  by  France  to  the 
United  States,  279.  Its  extent  at  dif- 
ferent times,  280.  Comprehended  no 
territory  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
283.  Northern  boundary  not  deter- 
mined by  commissaries  agreeably  to  the 
treaty  of  Utrecht,  as  generally  sup- 
posed, 281,  43G. 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


479 


'"^1 


8  in  the  sloop  Wash- 
he  Strait  of  Fuca, 
■st  who  engaged  in 
of  sandal-wood  from 
inds  to  Canton,  2*^6. 
iida  from  the  Indians 
iitallv  killed,  22'.K 
yettlement  on  it  by 

chef,  voyage  of,  137. 
von,  commands  a 
;  expedition  to  the 
rreat  merit  as  a  navi- 
1  of  the  expedition ; 
}form  of   ahuscs  in 

a74 


I  old  Spanish  pilot, 
lave  made  a  northern 
tlantic  to  the  Facihc, 

poral  of  marines  in 
14!>.  E8ca|)es  irom 
le  coast  of  Connecti- 
ors  to  obtain  means 
fur  trade  °,  attempts 
om  I'liris  to  Kamt- 
at  Irkutsk,  and 
ittempts  to  discover 
i    Nile,  and    dii's   at 

and  John  Clarke, 
resident  JelVerson  to 
)uri  and  Coluniliia 
oyage  up  the  Mis- 
s ;  passage  through 
lins,  '-if^^i.  Descend 
the  Pacific;  winter 
the  Columbia,  'JfHi. 
d  States,  '2>i7.  Gen- 
r  expedition  ;  their 
Lewis ;  melancholy 
fi. 

r    Sahaptin    River, 
braneli  of  the  Co- 
i)y  Lewisand  Clarke, 
J. 

)ill  and  speeches  in 
'iiited  States  on  the 
)!!,  :{7i»,  :5.S7. 
the  French ;  grant- 
to  Crozat,  '227  ;  and 
a-J8.  Cetled  by 
retroceded  by  Spain 
d  by  France  to  the 
Its  extent  at  dif- 
Comprehended  no 
Rocky  Mountains, 
undary  not  deter- 
ries  agreeably  to  the 
as    generally  sup- 


IV 


M. 

MacOougal,  Duncan,  partner  in  the  Pa- 
cific Company,  2\)4.  Sells  the  estab- 
lishments to  tne  North- West  Company, 
303.     See  Astoria. 

MacDuifie,  George,  speech  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  on  the  bill  for  the 
occupation  of  Oregon,  380. 

MacKenzie,Alexander,  explores  the  north- 
western parts  of  America;  reaches  the 
Arctic  Sea,  'M'i.  Reaches  the  Pacific, 
%4.  MacKenzie  River  discovered  by 
MacKenzie,  2(>3. 

Mac  Roberts,  Samuel,  speech  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  on  the  bill  for  the 
occupation  of  Oregon,  382. 

Magellan,  Fernando,  sails  from  the  Atlan- 
tic through  Magellan's  Strait  into  the 
Pacific,  and  across  the  latter  ocean  to 
India,  48. 

Malaspina,  Alexandro,  explores  the  coasts 
near  Mount  St.  Elias,  in  search  of  a 
passage  supposed  to  communicate  with 
the  Atlantic;  arrested  and  imprisoned 
on  his  return  to  Spain ;  his  name  not 
mentioned  in  the  account  of  his  voyage 
officially  published  at  Madrid,  2*22. 

Maldonado,  Lorenzo  Ferrer  de,  account 
of  his  pretended  voyage  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Pacific,  79. 

Maquinna,  chief  of  Nootka,  167.  Grants 
land  to  Meares  for  his  temporary  use, 
174.  Denies  that  the  British  had  bought 
lands  or  erected  buildings  at  Nootka, 
242.  Takes  the  ship  Boston,  of  Boston, 
and  murders  nearly  all  her  crew,  268. 

Marchand,  Etienne,  commands  the  ship 
Solide,  from  Marseilles,  in  her  voyage 
around  the  world,  223.  Sees  the  islands 
which  had  been  previously  discovered 
by  Ingraham,  of  which  he  sent  an  ac- 
count to  France,  claiming  the  discovery. 
Ingraham's  claim  admitted  by  Fleu- 
rieu,  the  editor  of  Marchand's  Journal ; 
Journal  of  Marchand's  voyage,  edited 
by  Fleurieu ;  general  character  of  the 
work,  223.     See  Fleurieu. 

Marcos  de  Niza,  a  Franciscan  friar,  pre- 
tends to  have  discovered  a  rich  and 
populous  country,  called  Cibola,  north- 
west of  Mexico,  5!). 

Marquesas  Islands,  discovered  by  Menda- 
na,  95.  North  Marquesas  or  Washing- 
ton Islands,  discovered  by  Ingraham, 
226.  These  islands  occupied  by  the 
French,  374. 

Martinez,  Estevan,  pilot  to  Perez,  in  the 
Santiago ;  pretends  to  have  rediscovered 
the  Strait  of  Fuca,  116.  Commands 
in  a  voyage  of  observation  to  the  coasts 
occupied  by  the  Russians,  185.  Or- 
dered by  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  to  oc- 
cupy Nootka  Sound,  187.  Arrives  at 
Nootka,    191.      Seizes  the   Iphigenia, 


but  afterwards  releases  her,  192.  Seizes 
the  North- West  America,  194.  Seizes 
the  Argonaut,  and  imprisons  her  cap- 
tain, 195.  Seizes  the  Princess  Royal, 
198.  Reflections  on  these  acts,  197. 
Returns  to  Mexico,  198. 

Maurelle,  Antonio,  pilot,  under  Bodega, 
in  his  voyages  along  the  north-west 
coasts,  117  — 125.  His  Journal  of  the 
first  of  these  voyages,  translated  and 
printed  at  London,  117.  Importance 
of  this  work,  123.  His  Journal  of  the 
other  voyage,  125. 

Meares,  John,  his  first  voyage  to  the 
north-west  coast,  166.  His  second  voy- 
age, under  the  Portuguese  flag,  with 
the  Felice  and  Iphigenia,  172.  In- 
structed to  take  any  vessels  which 
may  attempt  to  molest  him,  but  not  in- 
structed to  form  any  establishment  or 
purchase  lands,  173.  Reasons  for  his 
sailing  under  the  Portuguese  flag,  174. 
Arrives  in  the  Felice  at  Nootka,  where 
he  obtains  from  Maquinna  the  use  of  a 
piece  of  ground,  afterwards  claimed  by 
liim  as  purchased,  174.  Receives  from 
Berkeley  an  account  of  the  rediscovery 
of  the  Strait  of  Fuca,  by  the  latter,  171. 
Yet  claims  the  merit  of^  the  rediscoverj' 
himself,  175.  Seeks  in  vain  for  the 
great  River  San  Roque,  (the  Columbia^ 
as  laid  down  on  Spanish  charts,  176. 
Declares  that  no  such  river  exists,  177. 
Yet  the  British  government  claims  the 
discovery  of  the  Columbia  for  him,  178, 
440.  His  account  of  the  arrival  of  the 
sloop  Washington  at  Nootka,  181.  Re- 
turns to  China,  180.  Sent  to  London, 
to  complain  of  the  seizure  of  the  vessels 
at  Nootka,  by  the  Spaniards,  202.  His 
memorial  to  the  British  government, 
203.  Its  numerous  falsehoods  and  in- 
consistencies, 172,  175,  178,  193,  211. 

Mendocino,  Cape,  18.    Discovered,  65. 

Mendoza,  Antonio  de,  sent  as  viceroy  to 
supersede  Cortes  in  the  government  of 
Mexico,  56.  Attempts  to  discover  new 
countries  in  America,  57. 

Mendoza,  Diego  Hurtado,  commands  the 
ships  sent  by  Cortes  to  explore  the  Pa- 
cific coasts  of  America,  53. 

Metcalf,  voyage  of,  fires  on  the  natives 
at  Mowee,  224.  Young  Metcalf  and 
his  crew  murdered  by  the  natives  of 
Owyhee,  225. 

Moncachtabe,  an  Indian,  his  account  of  a 
great  river,flowing  from  the  central  parts 
of  North  America  to  the  Pacific,  145. 

Monroe,  James,  secretary  of  state  of  the 
United  States,  declares  to  the  British 
minister  the  intention  of  his  govern- 
ment to  secure  the  possession  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Columbia,  agreeably  to 
the  treaty  of  Ghent,  307.  President 
of  the  United  States;  his  message,  de- 


480 


f'l 


i  I 


:ih  h   1 


!^^  I  '( 


n^  M 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


daring  the  Amcrienn  continents  not 
subject  to  colonization  by  European 
nations,  335. 

Monterey  discovered  by  Cabrillo,  and  so 
named  by  Vizcaino,  !(2.  Colony  es- 
tablished there  by  the  Spaniards,  U)!>. 
Taken  by  a  Buenos  Ayrean  privateer, 
365.  Taken  by  an  American  stjuad- 
ron,  under  Captain  Jones,  ;567. 

Morehead,  James  T.,  speecli  in  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  United  States  on  the  bill 
for  the  occupation  of  Oregon,  379. 


N. 

Navarrete,  Martin  F.  de,  chief  of  tiie  Hy- 
drograpliical  Department  at  Madrid  ;  his 
labors  with  regard  to  the  history  of  ear- 
ly voyages  of  discovery  in  America,  84. 

Noolka  Sound  discovered  by  the  Span- 
iards under  Perez,  and  called  Port  San 
Lorenzo,  113.  Cook  enters  it  with 
his  ships,  and  calls  it  King  George's 
Sound,  153.  The  principal  rendezvous 
of  the  fur  trader  for  some  time,  l(i7. 
Proceedings  of  Meares  at  Nootka,  174. 
The  Spaniards  determine  to  occupy  it, 
187.  Proceedings  of  the  Spaniards 
under  Martinez,  101.  Claims  of  the 
British  to  the  possession  of  the  country 
examined,  242,  256.  The  Spaniards 
abandon  it,  257.  Capture  of  the  ship 
Boston  by  the  natives,  and  murder  of 
her  crew,  268. 

Nootka  treaty,  or  convention  of  1790, 
between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  450. 
Discussions  which  led  to  it,  21)2 — 2()i). 
(?:c  Meares.)  Review  of  its  stipula- 
tions, 213,  258.  Expired  in  1706,  258, 
318.  Not  to  be  regarded  as  a  definitive 
settlement  of  principles,  340.  Its  con- 
tinual subsistence  asserted  by  Great 
Britain,  340. 

North-West  Fur  Trading  Company  of 
Montreal  founded ;  its  system,  261. 
First  posts  established  by  it  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  201.  Purchases  the 
establishments  of  the  Pacific  Company, 
304.  Disputes  with  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company,  323.  Union  of  the  two  com- 
panies, 325. 


o. 


Oregon,  river,  so  called  by  Carver,  Bup- 
uosed  to  flow  from  the  central  parts  of 
North  America  to  the  Pacific,  142.  (6«c 
Carver.)  Name  applied  to  the  country 
drained  by  the  Columbia,  359.  De- 
scription of  Oregon,  20. 

Ossinobia,  name  given  by  Lord  Selkirk 
to  the  country  purchased  by  him  on 
the  Red  River,  324. 


Owyhee,  or  Hawaii,  the  largest  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  discovered  by  Cook, 
157. 


Perez,  Juan,  voyage  from  Mexico  along 
the  north-west  coast  to  the  54th  degree 
of  latitude,  114.  Discovers  Nootka 
Sound,  called  by  him  Port  San  Loren- 
zo, 116,  153. 

Perouse,  Francois  G.  de  la,  voyage  along 
apart  of  the  north-west  coast,  163. 

Phelps,  Samuel  S.,  his  speech  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  Stales  on  the  bill 
for  the  occupation  of  Oregon,  370. 

Philippine  Islands  conquered  by  the 
Spaniards,  67. 

Poh'tica,  Chevalier  de,  Russian  minister 
in  the  United  States;  correspondence 
with  the  American  government  respect- 
ing the  ukase  of  1H21,  332. 

Promuschleniks,  generuh  name  for  the 
Russians  employed  in  the  service  of  the 
Russian  American  Trading  Company, 

Q. 

Quadra  and  Vancouver's  Island,  31,  240. 

Quadra.     See  Bodega. 

Queen  Charlotte's  or  Washington's  Is- 
land, discovered  by  Perez,  115.  Not 
seen  by  Cook,  153,  170.  Seen  by  La 
Perouse,  164  ;  and  by  Dixon,  who  gave 
it  its  present  name,  164.  Its  west  coast 
first  explored  by  Gray,  who  names  it 
Washington's  Island,  109.  Described, 
37. 

Queen  Charlotte's  Sound,  name  first  given 
to  the  northern  entrance  of  the  Strait 


of  Fuca,  240. 


R. 


Rives,  William  C,  his  speech  in  the  Sen- 
ate of  the  United  States  on  the  bill  for 
the  occupation  of  Oregon,  384. 

Rocky  Mountains  described,  3.  First 
called  the  Shining  Mountains,  or  Moun- 
tains of  Bright  Stones,  143,  262. 

Rush,  Richard,  minister  plenipotentiary 
of  the  United  States  at  London ;  discus- 
sion with  Lord  Castlereagh  respecting 
the  restoration  of  Astoria,  308.  His 
first  negotiation  respecting  the  claims 
of  the  United  States,  314.  Concludes 
a  convention  on  the  subject  in  1818, 
315.  His  second  negotif ''on  on  the 
subject,  336.  Talent  tjd  industry  dis- 
played by  him,  340. 

Russia,  government  proposes  an  arrange- 
ment with  the  United  States  respecting 
the  trade  of  American  vessels  in  the 
North  Pacific,   275.     Forbids  foreign 


i,  tlie  Inrgpst  of  the 
,  discovered  by  Cook, 


!  from  Moxico  along 

ast  to  the  r)4lh  degree 

Discovt'rs    Nootka 

him  Fort  San  Loren- 

r.  de  la,  voyage  along 
i-west  coast,  163. 
.,  his    speech   in   the 
ited  States  on  tlie  bill 
n  of  Oregon,  [\7[). 
conquered    by    the 

de,  Ilussinn  minister 
;ates ;  correspondence 
n  government  respect- 

L-neral"  name  for  the 
d  in  the  service  of  tho 
n  Trading  Company, 


a. 

Ivor's  Island,  31,240. 
Ta. 

or  Washington's  Is- 
by  Perez,  115.  Not 
'>3,  170.  Seen  by  La 
d  by  Dixon,  who  gave 
e,  104.  Its  west  coast 
Gray,  who  names  it 
ind,  11)1).     Described, 

lound,  name  first  given 
ntrance  of  the  Strait 


lis  speech  in  the  Sen- 
States  on  the  bill  for 
Oregon,  384. 
described,    3.     First 
Mountains,  or  Moun- 
ones,  143,  262. 
nister  plenipotentiary 
es  at  London ;  discus- 
astlereagh  respecting 
,f  Astoria,   308.     His 
respecting  the  claims 
ites,  314.    Concludes 
the  subject  in  1818, 
negotif'''.'>n  on  the 
lent  f-'d  industry  dis- 
40. 

t  proposes  an  arrange- 
ited  States  respecting 
erican  vessels  in  the 
175.     Forbids  foreign 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


481 


vessels  from  trading  in  the  North  Pa- 
cific, 332.  (See  -.Ukase.)  Convention 
with  the  United  States,  342.  Treaty 
with  Gieat  Britain,  343.  Convention 
with  the  United  States  virtually  abro- 
gated by  that  treaty,  :S43.  Ret  uses  to 
renew  the  fourth  article  of  the  conven- 
tion with  the  United  States,  362. 

Russian  American  Company  established 
by  charter,  260.  Its  territories,  38. 
Its  system,  270.  Abuses  in  the  admin- 
istration of  its  possessions,  271.  Many 
abuses  removed,  274.  Renewal  of  its 
charter ;  great  improvement  in  its  sys- 
tem, 364.  Leases  a  part  of  its  terri- 
tories to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
364. 

Russians  conquer  Northern  Asia,  127. 
Their  discoveries  in  the  North  Pacific, 
131,  et  acq. 


San  Diego,  15.  Discovered  by  Vizcaino, 
92.  The  first  Spanish  colony  on  the  west 
coast  of  California  planted  there,  10!). 

San  Francisco  Bay,  17.  The  northern- 
most spot  on  the  west  coast  of  America 
occupied  by  the  Spaniards  previous  to 
May,  178!),  248. 

San  Lucas,  Cape,  the  southern  extremity 
of  California,  10. 

San  Roque,  river  so  called  by  the  Span- 
iards, the  same  now  called  the  Colum- 
bia, discovered,  120. 

Sandwich  Islands  described,  374.  Dis- 
covered 'uy  Cook,  157.  Frequented  by 
the  Fur  Traders,  108.  Capture  of  the 
schooner  Fair  American  by  the  na- 
tives, 225.  Pretended  cession  of  Owy- 
hee to  Great  Britain  by  Taniahamaha, 
251.  Tamahamphu  sovereign  of  the 
whole  group,  268.  Death  of  Tama- 
hamaha,  229.  Christianity  introduced 
into  the  islands,  3'30.  Proceedings  of 
the  American  missionaries;  language 
of  the  islands,  369.  Expulsion  of  the 
Catholic  missionaries,  and  their  rein- 
statement, 371.  The  British  occupy  the 
islands  temporarily,  373.  Diminution 
of  the  native  population,  374.  See. 
Cook,  Tamahamaha,  Metcalf,  Vancou- 
ver, Ingraham. 

Santa  Barbara  Islands,  15.  Discovered 
by  Cabrillo,  64. 

Schelikof,  Gregory,  establishes  Russian 
colonies  on  the  coasts  and  islands  of 
America,  161.  Tho  founder  of  the 
Russian  American  Company,  269. 

Sevier,  Ambrose,  speech  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  on  the  bill  for  the 
occupation  of  Oregon.  380. 

Sitka,  or  New  Archangel,  capital  of  Rus- 
sian America,  40.  Founded  bv  Ba- 
ranof,  270. 

61 


Snake  River.     See  Lewis  River. 

South  Pass  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  36. 

Discovered  by  Ashley,  357. 
Sutil  and  Mexicana,  voyage  of,  239,  241. 

See  Guliano  and  Valdes. 


T. 


Tamahamaha,  a  chief  of  note  in  Owyhee, 
168.  King  of  Owyhee,  249.  Pretend- 
ed cession  of  the  sovereignty  of  his 
island  to  the  British,  251.  Acquires  the 
dominion  over  all  the  islands,  268.  His 
acuteness  in  trade,  269,  296.  His  death 
and  character,  '32!). 

Tchirikof,  Alexei,  voyages  of,  129,  130, 
133.     See  Bering. 

Treaty  of  purtition  between  Spain  and 
Portugal  in  1494,  46.  Of  Saragossa, 
between  the  same  powers,  in  152i»,  49. 
Tlie  American  treaty  between  Spain 
and  England,  in  1670, 102.  Treaty  of 
Utrecht,  between  Great  Britain  and 
France,  in  1713,  140.  No  line  of  bound- 
ary between  the  possessions  of  those 
powers  settled  by  that  treaty,  140,  281, 
4;J6.  Family  Compact,  in  1762,  be- 
tween France  and  Spain,  103.  Dis- 
solved, 207.  Treaty  of  Versadles,  be- 
tween England,  France,  Spain,  and 
Portugal,  in  1763,  102,  278.  Nootka 
treaty,  of  1790,  between  Great  Britain 
and  Spain,  209,  258,  318,  466.  Treaty 
of  1800,  by  which  Spain  ceded  Louis- 
iana to  France,  276,  279.  Treaty  of 
1803,  by  which  France  ceded  Louis- 
iana to  the  United  States,  276,  279. 
Treaty  of  Ghent,  in  1814,  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  306. 
Florida  treaty  between  the  United 
States  and  Spain,  in  1819,  316,  468. 
Treaty  between  Great  Britain  and  Rus- 
sia, in  1825,  342, 469.  Treaty  between 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
settling  boundaries  east  of  the  Lake  of 
the  Woods,  377.     See  Conventions. 

Tyler,  John,  president  of  the  United 
States;  message  respecting  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  372.  Message  respecting 
Oregon,  377. 

u. 

Ukase  of  the  Russian  government,  pro- 
liibiting  vessels  of  oOier  nations  ffom 
frequenting  the  North  Pacific  coasts, 
322.  Correspondence  respecting  it,  be- 
tween the  secretary  of  state  of  the 
United  States  and  the  Russian  plenipo- 
tentiary, at  Washington,  333.  Protest  of 
the  British  government  against  it,  '335. 

Ulloa,  Francisco,  voyage  through  the 
Gulf  of  California  and  along  the  west 
coast,  58. 


\ 


483 


oeneraij  index. 


1  ^'< 


Ulloa,  Antonio,  secret  information  afford- 
ed by  him  to  the  Spanish  government, 
respecting  the  state  of  tlio  Spanish 
provinces  in  South  America,  in  1740, 
105. 

Unalashka  Island,  40.  Visited  by  Cook, 
155,  who  there  first  meets  with  Rus- 
sians,  156. 

United  States,  first  voyages  of  their  citi- 
zens to  the  Pacific  and  to  China,  179. 
First  voyages  to  the* north-west  coast 
of  America,  180.  Their  citizens'  alone 
can  occupy  Oregon,  403. 

Urdaiieta,  Andres  de,  discovers  the  mode 
of  crossing  the  Pacific  from  west  to 
east,  67.  Supposed  to  have  discovered 
a  northern  passage  between  the  Atlan- 
tic and  Pacific,  78. 

Utah  Salt  Lake,  20. 


V. 

Vancouver,  George,  sails  from  England 
on  an  exploring  voyage  to  the  Pacific, 
and  as  commissioner  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain  to  receive  the  lands  and 
buildings  to  be  restored  by  Spain, 
agreeably  to  the  Nootka  convention, 
217.  Reaches  the  north-west  coast 
of  America,  232.  Declares  that  no 
river  or  harbor  of  consequence  is  to  be 
found  between  the  40th  and  the  4Sth 
degree  of  latitude,  233.  Meets  Gray, 
and  receives  from  him  an  account  of 
the  discovery  of  a  great  river,  232, 
which  he  disbelieves,  233.  Enters  the 
Strait  of  Fuca ;  explores  Admiralty  In- 
let, and  takes  possession  of  the  whole 
surrounding  territory,  238.  Remarks 
on  this  act;  meets  Galiano  and  Val- 
des,  and  continues  the  survey  of  the 
strait,  239.  Passes  through  tlie  strait, 
and  arrives  at  Nootka,  240.  Claims 
the  discovery  of  the  Washington  or 
North  Marquesas  Islands  for  Hergest, 
though  he  knew  them  to  have  been 
first  seen  by  the  Americans,  242.  Ne- 
gotiations with  the  Spanish  commis- 
sioner Quadra,  242.  Claims  the  whole 
territory  around  Nootka  for  Great  Brit- 
ain, 243.  His  unfair  synopsis  of  the 
letter  of  Gray  and  Ingraham,  244,  417. 
Receives  accounts  and  charts  of  Gray's 


discoveries  from  Quadra;  sends  Brongh- 
ton  to  examine  Columbia  River,  247. 
At  the  Sandwich  Islands,  executes  per- 
sons falsely  charged  with  the  murder 
of  his  officers,  249.  Examines  a  large 
portion  of  the  north-west  coasts,  and 
returns  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  250. 
Pretended  cession  of  Owyhee  to  him 
for  his  sovereign,  251.  Circumstances 
connected  with  that  affair,  252.  Re- 
turns to  the  north-west  coast,  of  which 
he  completes  tlie  survey,  254.  Names 
given  by  him  to  places,  255.  Returns 
to  England ;  his  death ;  great  value 
of  his  journal;  his  hatred  of  Ameri- 
cans, and  constant  injustice  towards 
them,  256. 
Vizcaino,  Sebastian,  exploring  voyage 
along  the  north-west  coast,  91.  De- 
sires to  found  colonies  on  those  coasts, 
94.     Death,  95. 


w. 

Washington's  or  Queen  Charlotte's  Is- 
land, east  coast  first  explored  by  Gray, 
199. 

Washington  or  North  Marquesas  Islands, 
discovered  by  Ingraham,  226.  Discov- 
ery claimed  by  Marchand,  who,  how- 
ever, admits  the  priority  of  Ingraham's 
claim,  228.  Discovery  claimed  by  Van- 
couver for  Hergest,  2i42.  Occupied  by 
the  French,  374. 

Webster,  Daniel,  secretary  of  state  of  the 
United  States,  concludes  a  treaty  with 
Lord  Ashburton,  settling  the  boundaries 
east  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  377. 

Whidbey  surveys  Bulfinch's  Harbor,  246. 

Wiccanish,  king  of  Nittinat,  167. 

Wilkes,  Charles,  his  voyage  of  explora- 
tion in  the  Pacific,  376. 

Willamet,  river  and  valley,  26  First 
settlements  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States  there,  361. 

Woodbury,  Levi,  speech  in  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States  on  the  bill  for  the 
occupation  of  Oregon,  379. 

Wyeth,  Nathaniel,  endeavors  to  establish 
trading  posts  on  the  Columbia,  359. 
Great  value  of  his  accounts  of  Oregon, 
360. 

;    .r.i  ,  . 


-.-f 


'   .1. 


m   / 


•   f 


BIBLIOTHEC:!     ] 
Ottaviens^  -^ 


a 


M  ^  ^ 


!^'i 


t^i 


iuadra;  aends  Brough- 
Dolumbia  River,  5447. 
lalands,  executes  per- 
ged  with  the  murder 
D.  Examines  a  large 
>rth-we8t  coauts,  and 
iiidwich  Islands,  1250. 
1  of  Owyhee  to  him 
251.  Circumstances 
;hat  affair,  252.  Re- 
-west  coast,  of  which 
survey,  254.  Names 
places,  255.  Returns 
death ;  great  value 
his  hatred  of  Anieri- 
nt  injustice  towards 

I,  exploring  voyage 
vest  coast,  91.  De- 
Dnies  on  those  coasts, 


ueen  Charlotte's  Is- 
rst  explored  by  Gray, 

h  Marquesas  Islands, 
raham,  'iSSo.  Discov- 
archand,  who,  how- 
iriority  of  Ingraham's 
very  claimed  by  Van- 
t,  1^2.    Occupied  by 

sretary  of  state  of  the 
irludes  a  treaty  with 
>ttling  the  boundaries 
r  the  Woods,  377. 
tlfinch's  Harbor,  246. 
iittinat,  167. 

voyage  of  explora- 

376. 

i  valley,  26  First 
izens  of  the  United 


X 


eech  in  the  Senate 
:es  on  the  bill  for  the 
:on,  379. 

udeavors  to  establish 
the  Columbia,  359. 
accounts  of  Oregon, 


'    .1.. 


